NASA destroyed evidence of life on Mars - says former employee of 46 yearsFormer NASA Scientist Richard Hoover shares revelations with journalist Lee Speigel from the Huffington Post. Hoover talks about the fact that someone at NASA may have destroyed evidence of life on Mars. This took place at the Open Minds 2014 International UFO Congress and Film Festival in Fountain Hills Arizona

On July 10, 2016 DNC staffer Seth Rich was murdered in Washington D.C. Was Rich the source who provided Wikileaks with DNC internal emails? Some have speculated this is the reason for his murder. If true, what becomes of the mantra “Russia did it?” Sources within the FBI confirm that Seth Rich was in contact with wikileaks... News outlets have confirmed the reports as well as Debbie Wasserman-Schultz complicity in the DNC cover-up.

US invaded Afghanistan to restore heroin industry – now pretending to fight it

The announcement by the US military (Nov 2017) that their new strategy (in Afghanistan) involves bombing drug labs is quite humorous given that the US went into Afghanistan in reality largely to protect the heroin industry. Dr. Kevin Barrett told Press TV. “Just as the Vietnam war was heavily driven by the fact that at that time most of the world’s heroin was coming from the Golden Triangle, today the heroin epicenter has moved with the CIA’s areas of interest to Afghanistan,” he stated. “The Taliban had shut down opium production in Afghanistan, and it was not tolerable to the Deep State which profits to the tune of $1.5 trillion per year from the heroin industry, which is then moved in a shell-game to various banks and corporations and leveraged into vastly more money than that,” he noted.

[MP Steve Baker presented evidence before a special Parliamentary committee that EU President Donald Tusk offered Teresa May 'an advanced free trade agreement with zero tariffs' (see 9:14 min in video). Thereafter Baker's speeches were edited by No 10 so any references to the trade deal were removed]

European Research Group (ERG) deputy Steve Baker believes "fearful" Downing Street officials “do not believe” in delivering Brexit. Jacob Rees-Mogg’s number two told parliament’s European Scrutiny Committee it was “hard to be too damning” about the government’s Brexit negotiations. Mr Baker, the MP for Wycombe, served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) from June 2017 to July 2018. During his time in the department, No 10 staff and DExEU ministers were regularly at loggerheads over Brexit policy, he claimed. Mr Baker said: “The constant refrain throughout my time in government was this atmosphere of reluctance to leave. “While we won the vote, we did not win the argument with the governing class. “Our entire approach is suffused with a reluctance to deliver what the public wanted.” Mr Baker resigned from DExEU in July 2018 after the publication of Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit white paper. His resignation came shortly after then-Brexit secretary David Davis also resigned. During his time in the department, there was “instinctive tension” between Number 10 and Department for Exiting the EU (DeXEU) ministers, Mr Baker claimed. Downing Street ministers “overwhelmingly” wanted Britain to remain in the EU, Mr Baker said. He claimed government ministers edited a speech to remove offers on research, flights, security and advance trade free agreement by Donald Tusk that were not wanted by Number 10.

​The staunch Brexiteer claimed the UK "sacrificed" British fisheries and fish stocks when the country joined the European Union. Jacob Rees-Mogg insisted the Government should ensure those fishermen suffering because of the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) are returned their rights to British waters after Brexit. The stern warning comes as it was revealed Brussels has demanded continued access to fishing waters in exchange for an agreement to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Mr Rees-Mogg said: "I think it’s very important we get back our fishing waters and I don’t think we should sacrifice them during the interim period up until 2021."The coastal communities have really badly affected by our membership of the European Union. They were sacrificed in 1973 when we joined the European Union."Mrs May’s plan would keep the whole of the UK in the EU’s customs union to avoid a hard border in Ireland if the two sides cannot strike a trade deal by the end of the transition period in December 2020.But Brussels wants to keep access to UK waters as the price for agreeing Mrs May’s proposal.

‘Brexit will be 'GREAT' for fishing industry says British fisherman. I think it’s very important we get back our fishing waters and I don’t think we should sacrifice them’Jacob Rees-Mogg​The North Somerset MP continued: "I think we have a duty to them to help them get back some of their prosperity and to secure our own fishing waters for British fishermen."Actually, it would be particularly beneficial in Scotland, where a lot of the fish stocks are in Scottish waters."The CFP, which allows European Union vessels access to UK fishing grounds and imposes strict quotas, is despised by many British fishermen who blame it for decimating what was once a national industry.Despite voicing opposition to the CFP and it granting permission to EU vessels to catch fish in British waters, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has remained an outspoken critic of Brexit – going as far as suggesting Scotland be allowed to stay in the single market in 2017.Fishermen across the country have torn into the Prime Minister for selling out the industry, and have warned: “Our freedom is in peril”.Fishing for Leave spokesman Alan Hastings said: “The EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, quotas and mass discarding has been an environmental disaster as well as an economic and social one.UK fish rotting on docks if EU decides to hammer Brit fishermen“She is away to sell-out British fishing and coastal communities out again. It is disgraceful, disgusting…It looks like the time to go up the Thames again.”Mr Hastings added: “As Fishing For Leave warned a transition means re-obeying all EU law with disastrous consequences.“We warned that Chequers and a 'common rulebook on agri-goods' was the same dodgy wording as the Treaty of Rome which founded the Common Fisheries Policy and would be used to demand fisheries.“Norway, Iceland, Faroe & Greenland export vast amounts of seafood to the EU. Does the EU demand and do they cave to surrendering their natural resource for market access? No.“No other nation on earth gives up fisheries access and resources for markets...looks like the Conservatives are about to make Britain the first.”Mr Hastings claimed the British Government had been “weak” before demanding MP’s “vote this disgrace of a deal down”.He said: “To the public, our countrymen we say - our country and our freedom is in peril - Defend it with all your might!.”

Alexander NixThe most recent Eton alumnus to find themselves in the headlines for the wrong reasons is Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix. The scandal-ridden data analytics company suspended Nix on Tuesday after undercover recordings revealed him allegedly discussing bribery and entrapment with a potential client.Nix got nixed just before Channel 4 aired its exposé on the company on Tuesday. The report shows Nix claiming his company was responsible for securing Donald Trump’s election victory in 2016. An earlier report showed him telling reporters posing as a potential client that they could “send some girls around to the candidate’s house” to get damaging information on a subject

David CameronDavid Cameron’s legacy as UK prime minister includes the very memorable – and very embarrassing – moment when an incident from his college days emerged. The Eton alumnus reportedly carried out a sex act on a pig when at university in Oxford. According to a book by former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft, Cameron put his penis in a pig’s mouth as part of an initiation ritual to get in to an Oxford dining club. Another member of the club reportedly has a photograph of the incident.However, a penchant for pigs is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Cameron’s dismal legacy. Cameron was responsible for UK intervention in Libya in 2011 and, seven years later, the country remains a failed state with a slave market trade. The former PM also tripled university tuition fees at the start of his time in government, sparking protests across the country, and resigned in 2016 in the wake of the Brexit referendum result.

Boris JohnsonAlthough Bumbling Boris is foreign secretary, he is unlikely to be top of the list when it comes to Eton’s most diplomatic students. Johnson, a former mayor of London, has a long list of past gaffes under his belt, from writing a poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan masturbating and having sex with a goat, to referring to Africa as “that country.”His more recent blunders include jeopardizing the release of British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, detained in Iran, by alleging she was training journalists in that country.

Simon MannAnother Etonian is mercenary Simon Mann, who attempted a coup against the president of Equatorial Guinea in 2004. Mann’s company, Executive Outcomes, ran wars in Angola and Sierra Leone, while Sandline International, another company Mann worked for, suppressed rebellion in Papua New Guinea.Mann also says the US asked him to give them a hand in starting the Iraq War. He told Vice a friend of “the American neocons” asked him to “come up with ideas to get the war kicked off.” “The first was to pick an Iraqi city away from Baghdad, go there with a rebel force made up of 6,000 Iraqi émigrés, take the city, then say, ‘Yah boo’ to Saddam. That would have forced him to come get us and be zapped on the road by the UK and US, or let the flag of rebellion spread,” Mann told Vice.

William WaldegraveThere’s certainly a theme among this set of Eton alumni. Former Conservative MP William Waldegrave, now Provost of Eton College, became embroiled in a scandal after it emerged he was involved in encouraging weapons sales to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, in contravention of sanctions in the 1980s.The scandal broke after aerospace company Matrix Churchill went on trial for violating a government policy by selling arms to Iraq, but the trial fell apart after it emerged that the Government knew about the sales – and encouraged them. The Scott investigation into UK sales of arms to Iraq found that Cabinet ministers misled Parliament in 1989 and 1990 about the government’s policy

U.N. Official Reveals Real Reason Behind Warming Scareby Investors.comThe alarmists keep telling us their concern about global warming is all about man's stewardship of the environment. But we know that's not true. A United Nations official has now confirmed this. At a news conference last week in Brussels, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.'s Framework Convention on Climate Change, admitted that the goal of environmental activists is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism."This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution," she said.Referring to a new international treaty environmentalists hope will be adopted at the Paris climate change conference later this year, she added: "This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history."The only economic model in the last 150 years that has ever worked at all is capitalism. The evidence is prima facie: From a feudal order that lasted a thousand years, produced zero growth and kept workdays long and lifespans short, the countries that have embraced free-market capitalism have enjoyed a system in which output has increased 70-fold, work days have been halved and lifespans doubled.Figueres is perhaps the perfect person for the job of transforming "the economic development model" because she's really never seen it work. "If you look at Ms. Figueres' Wikipedia page," notes Cato economist Dan Mitchell: Making the world look at their right hand while they choke developed economies with their left. (original article)

​One of FOTM’s faithful readers recently sent me an email of palpable frustration, a sentiment I share and no doubt by you as well. She wrote:"Is it just me or is something really in the perverted wind of this country? I turn on the TV and suddenly on a soap I have watched decades, a character who has been on there for a few years is suddenly a transgender. I watch a Sunday show on PBS, “Calling the Midwife,” and suddenly a supposedly happily married man sexually approaches a stranger in a man’s restroom. Some of my favorite shows, like “CSI” have gay characters, and the list goes on. ABC-Disney is making a sitcom about the life of a gay man, Dan Savage, who is one of the nastiest-mouthed human beings out there.' How can 4% of the population control 80% of the viewing? I saw a couple of years ago that Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett went to Hollywood and demanded changes. A few months ago, Ulsterman wrote that Jarrett was overheard in OUR White House bragging they have so much more to do to us…. Our viewing choices are shrinking daily. Not to mention the sad world we are leaving the children."Indeed, how can such a small percentage of the population — the percentage of self-identified LGBTs in the U.S. population actually is less than 2% — control so much of entertainment, the media, and pop culture? Here’s how (full article)

Former US Four Star General Wesley Clark, who was the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe of NATO from 1997-2000, described a memo that said how the U.S. had “plans to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and finishing off, Iran”

By Arjun Walia | CollectiveEvolution.comThis article comes in light of the recent chemical attack in Syria. The images and footage you see that are spreading all over the internet are, well, there are really no words to describe them. These types of “terror” attacks have occurred time and time again, 9/11 being one of the biggest examples. When it comes to trying to resolve these issues, mainstream media always points to an enemy, referred to as terrorists, or various oppositions that warrant a western military intervention to supposedly ‘restore’ the peace.Below is a statement from Michel Chossudovsky, an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, and the Editor of Global Research. He has taught as visiting professor in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. He has served as economic adviser to governments of developing countries and has acted as a consultant for several international organizations. He is the author of eleven books including The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003), America’s “War on Terrorism” (2005), The Global Economic Crisis, and more.He brings up a point continually ignored by mainstream media and government for years, and that’s false flag terrorism:

In the light of recent developments and accusations directed against the Syrian government, it is important once more to set the record straight:the US supported rebels possess chemical weapons. The following article first published in December 2012 [scroll down] documentshow the Pentagon not only provided chemical weapons to Al Nusra, an affiliated Al Qaeda terrorist organization, but also provided training to the rebels in the use of these weapons. While Washington continues to point its finger at president Bashar al Assad, a United Nations independent commission of inquiry confirmed as early as May 2013that the rebels rather than the governmenthave chemical weapons in their possession and were using sarin nerve gas against the civilian population.Perhaps the home run statement by him was a more recent statement on his website:And once these Al Qaeda rebels had been supplied and trained in the use of WMDs by military contractors hired by the Pentagon, the Syrian government would then be held responsible for using the WMD against the Syrian people.

What we are seeing here is the side that’s never given any mainstream media attention but instead is presented by people like Chossudovsky, which is that these events are acts of false flag terrorism. This occurs when a small group of powerful people who dominate western finance and politics create events, and then twist what actually happened using their own media. These fake news stories are then used as justification for the infiltration of another country.It’s easy to understand why so many people deem this a ‘conspiracy theory,’ because these scenarios are so “immoral” that they are just too hard for some people’s minds to accept.Former Four Star General Wesley Clark, who was the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe of NATO from 1997-2000, has spoken out about this subject. Clark said, in an interview with Democracy Now, that the U.S. had plans to invade countries in the Middle East, including Syria, for no justified reason at all. He offered the sentiments of some within the American military, that they have a “good military” and that they can “take down governments.” He spoke of a memo that described how the U.S. had “plans to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and finishing off, Iran”. (full story)

[Note - this image did not originate from the telegraph]Recep Tayyip Erdogan is about to make himself a virtual dictator in Turkeyby MICHAEL DAVENTRY | TelegraphAs you read this, a rapid and turbulent revolution is underway in Turkey. The country's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party is pushing proposals through parliament that would radically alter the system of government.By abolishing Turkey's long-established system of collective cabinet government, the AK Party says it will stabilise the country and streamline decision-making. But the proposed law will pool power in the hands of the president and dramatically reduce the top job’s accountability to parliament. In effect, it codifies a system of one-man rule for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.It wipes out the century-old role of prime minister and transfers its functions to the president. It strips Turkish MPs of their duty to scrutinise the executive and abolishes the vote of confidence needed for governments to take office. It grants the presidency new powers to directly appoint a vast range of public officials – cabinet ministers, provincial governors, and judges to the highest courts in the land.Simply put, the government’s plans are an enabling act: they are designed to strengthen the individual over the collective. Powers and duties that are presently distributed among the prime minister, the cabinet and senior judges are being rerouted to one man.(full story)

Horrific (CIA) Torture Report Shows Why Much Of The World Considers America To Be The Nazis Of The 21st Centuryby Michael Snyder| The American DreamGood guys do not sadistically torture people. Good guys do not threaten to sexually abuse the family members of their prisoners, and they certainly do not forcibly ram things up the rear ends of those in their custody. One of the greatest dangers that our country is facing is the fact that we are not passing on what it means to be “American” to future generations. Once upon a time, Americans were the good guys. But now, instead of fighting the Nazis we are behaving just like them. (full story)

Terror-Tied Group CAIR Causing Chaos, Promoting Protests & Lawsuits as Trump Protects NationbyLEE STRANAHAN | BreitbartThe Council on American-Islamic Relations, aka CAIR, has helped launch a series of protests across the country and plans lawsuits related to President Trump’s recent executive orders on immigration.The orders are designed to keep Americans safer from terrorism by temporarily barring visitors from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan from entering the U.S. without “extreme vetting” and banning refugees from these countries for at least 30 days. CAIR has been declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and was named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-funding operation. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is also increasingly a part of America’s institutional left infrastructure and was one of the partners behind the recent Women’s March in Washington that drew hundreds of thousands, along with feminist groups like Planned Parenthood. On Saturday, protests broke out at airports around the country, including New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Saturday morning, two Iraqis were detained at JFK. Over 1,000 now at Terminal 4 at #NoMuslimBanJFK to say refugees and Muslims are welcome here! CAIR chapters were actively promoting the protests on social media and acting as spokesmen for the issue. Protests at John F. Kennedy International Airport after #refugees were detained following Trump’s Immigration order. ABC News reports on the Chicago chapter of CAIR’s involvement: At least one person was detained at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago today, and it is expected that she will return to Saudi Arabia, according to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).Sahar Alghnimi, a Syrian woman who came to the U.S. on tourist visa to see her mother who had just undergone cancer surgery, was detained when she arrived from Saudi Arabia at 8:48 AM on Eithad Airlines, CAIR Chicago executive director Ahmed Rehab told ABC News.Meanwhile in Boston, CAIR is is planning another rally for Sunday at 1 p.m. on Boston’s Copley Square.CAIR-Massachusetts Executive Director John Robbins said Trump is playing on “religious bigotry and intolerance” and will end up turning away men, women, and children fleeing violence and persecution.Time magazine says that CAIR was behind a protest that happened earlier in the week at New York City’s Washington Square Park:The demonstration, led by the New York Chapter of the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was hastily organized in response to Trump’s executive orders restricting immigration from Muslim countries and efforts to curb undocumented immigration within the U.S. On Wednesday, Trump green-lighted the construction of a wall along the southern border, ordered the Department of Homeland Security to build more detention centers, and ended federal grant funding to so-called “sanctuary cities” that refuse to cooperate with federal anti-immigration efforts.CAIR has announced on their website that they will hold a news conference at its Capitol Hill headquarters in Washington, D.C. to announce the filing of a federal lawsuit on behalf of more than 20 individuals challenging the “Muslim ban” executive order. CAIR’s news conference will be live-streamed on its Facebook page.

Residents Shocked as Local Walmart in Texas Transforming into Illegal Immigrant Shelter - 'Citizens worried needs of Americans being ignored'Adan Salazar | Infowars.comThe shuttered retail building situated in Brownsville will re-open in March to house an undisclosed number of illegal immigrants under the age of 17, claimed a representative for the non-profit group Southwest Key Programs. The group contends the shelter is necessary to house the immigrant influx entering the US illegally via Mexico from Central American nations, according toKRGV News. The facility is reportedly the 4th of its kind in Brownsville and the 7th shelter to be built in Cameron County. Concerned tax dollars could be better spent on American programs, several Rio Grande Valley residents sounded off on theKRGV Facebook page.“How about a shelter for our U.S. homeless veterans[?] Take care of our own before extending a hand to foreigners,” one South Texas resident commented.“I believe we should ask Mexico to fund a building in Mexico. To what point does this stop. Parents, children, do things the right way and fix your paperwork to be here legally,” another frustrated Hispanic American wrote on Facebook.“There goes my tax dollars,” another person wrote.“Enough with these shelters, deport them back to their country of origin and let that government find their next of kin and tend to them,” wrote another Texas resident.“Another facility to house and take care of illegals where we the tax payers foot the bill. BUT nothing for our homeless less fortunate people or our vets. SMH,” remarked Keith Robida. Another person pleaded with the newly-inaugurated president to “do something about this, send them back,” while another asked, “Ok Trump what are you doing about this[?] I can’t even get health insurance and [these] people are getting everything free from my taxes.”“Welcome to America,” yet another upset Texas resident vented, “where hard working Americans have to pay for everything, where people are coming in are getting everything served to them on a silver platter.” Another person noted, “Zika… I wonder what other wonderful diseases Brownsville will get,” referring to thevarious infectious illnesses reported by Border Patrol agentsamong the immigrant population, including tuberculosis, scabies, measles and chickenpox to name a few.As some Texans expressed concern over the new shelter, others claiming the moral high ground argued that taking in an infinite number of illegal migrants was the right thing to do. While the organization maintains shelters for illegal children using taxpayer money, it is apparently not keen on discussing its funding.In 2014 Southwest Keys, headquartered in Austin, Texas, was the largest immigrant group receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants from the Office of Refugee Resettlement. By July of that year the organization confirmed it had taken in more than $120 million in federal grant money, however, when questioned bylocal Austin news outlet KEYEregarding funding the non-profit did not respond. Similarly the Office of Refugee Resettlement did not answer requests for comment. Southwest Key operates several facilities throughout the country, with shelters also located in California, New York, Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia. In October 2014 the organization also came under scrutiny after it was discovered theyspent over $300 per immigrant per day, with some funds going to questionable itemssuch as a petting zoo, a tilapia fish farm and guitar lessons for illegals. That year, Republican Sen Chuck Grassley of Iowa challenged the Department of Human Services’ request for additional funding, arguing the money was being thrown into a black hole.“It is disturbing that HHS is funding such expensive facilities despite claiming to be unable to meet basic needs for UACs [Unaccompanied Alien Children],” Grassley wrote to then-Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. On Wednesday US President Donald Trump addressed the issue of federal funding for towns labeled “sanctuary cities,” the effect of the decree remains to be seen. (full article)

Counter-Propaganda Bill Quietly Creates US Propaganda Factoryby John Laurits | JohnLaurits.comOn Thursday December 8th, the US senate quietly passed the National Defense Authorization Act ( or the ‘NDAA’ ) for the fiscal year of 2017. Basically, the NDAA is passed every year to re-approve & add to the United States’ so-called “defense” spending — which is sort of like Christmas for the officials who run the profitable death-machine called “US foreign policy.” However, many would likely be shocked by the ridiculous & terrifying laws that our treacherous congress usually buries inside the yearly bill — for example, congress just used the NDAA to create a “Global Engagement Center,” headed by the Secretary of State. Sounds harmless, right? Well, it might seem that way until you realize that “Global Engagement Center” is code for our new “Ministry of US Propaganda.”(full story)

The IRS Has STOLEN Millions From Americans Under ‘Structuring’ Law Without Evidenceby Ali Meyer | Washington Free Beacon

The IRS has seized $43 million from more than 600 individuals by accusing them of violating “structuring” laws even when there has been no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, according to testimony heard at the House Ways and Means Committee today. In 2012, two armed IRS agents went to the farm of Randy Sowers, a dairy farmer for over three decades, to notify him that the IRS had seized the business’ bank account, which held more than $60,000. The agents told Sowers the IRS had done so because of structuring laws. (full story)

How The Royal Family Is Destroying Britain -by Harry PatersonI don’t understand the Brits. I never have. Although I’m from Scotland and, technically, I suppose, that makes me a Brit, I just don’t get the national psyche. They’ll rage furiously at the thought of a hard-working Polish plumber grafting his arse off because he’s “stealing our jobs” yet fawn, grovel, bow and scrape at a collection of German-Greek immigrant benefit-scroungers bleeding the country dry. As long, of course, as they’re wearing crowns while they do so. (full article)

Climate Report to UN: Trump right, UN wrong – Skeptics Deliver Consensus Busting ‘State of the Climate Report’ to UN Summit​by Marc Morano | Climate DepotRenowned Princeton Physicist Freeman Dyson: ‘I’m 100% Democrat and I like Obama. But he took the wrong side on climate issue, and the Republicans took the right side’ – An Obama supporter who describes himself as “100 per cent Democrat,” Dyson is disappointed that the President “chose the wrong side.” Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere does more good than harm, he argues, and humanity doesn’t face an existential crisis. ‘What has happened in the past 10 years is that the discrepancies between what’s observed and what’s predicted have become much stronger.’

Nobel Prize-Winning Scientist Dr. Ivar Giaever, Who Endorsed Obama Now Says Prez. is ‘Ridiculous’ & ‘Dead Wrong’ on ‘Global Warming’ – Nobel Prize Winning Physicist Dr. Ivar Giaever: ‘Global warming is a non-problem’ – ‘I say this to Obama: Excuse me, Mr. President, but you’re wrong. Dead wrong.’ ‘Global warming really has become a new religion.’ – “I am worried very much about the [UN] conference in Paris in 2015…I think that the people who are alarmist are in a very strong position.’[These are just two of the many prominent Scientists who are jumping ship from the hoax and global money ripoff known as 'Climate Change'.]

CO2 is not the tail that wags the dog. CO2 is a trace essential gas, but without it life on earth would be impossible. Carbon dioxide fertilizes algae, trees, and crops to provide food for humans and animals. We inhale oxygen and exhale CO2. Slightly higher atmospheric CO2 levels cannot possibly supplant the numerous complex and inter-connected forces that have always determined Earth’s climate. As University of London professor emeritus Philip Stott has noted: “The fundamental point has always been this. Climate change is governed by hundreds of factors, or variables, and the very idea that we can manage climate change predictably by understanding and manipulating at the margins one politically selected factor (CO2), is as misguided as it gets.” “It’s scientific nonsense,” Stott added. Even the global warming activists at RealClimate.org acknowledged this in a September 20, 2008 article, stating, “The actual temperature rise is an emergent property resulting from interactions among hundreds of factors.”The UN Paris climate change agreement claims to able to essentially save the planet from ‘global warming’. But even if you accept the UN’s and Al Gore’s version of climate change claims, the UN Paris agreement would not ‘save’ the planet.(full article)

The assault against traditional marriage is now in full swing. Across the country, judges, mayors, legislators, and governors are calling for the legalization and moral acceptance of homosexual marriage. Many people wonder if such an event signals the beginning of America's ultimate demise. (It does. )

Social and cultural acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle certainly contributed to the collapse of many empires of antiquity, including the Canaanite, Persian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman empires. In fact, Senator Zell Miller of Georgia recently quoted noted historian Arnold Toynbee on the floor of the U.S. Senate as saying, "Of the 22 civilizations that have appeared in history, 19 of them collapsed when they reached the moral state America is in today." That statement is even more startling when one realizes that the statement was made some 30 years ago! If history is any teacher, one must conclude that the acceptance of homosexuality by any mainstream culture (will) doom that society!

That the United States has chosen to embrace the homosexual lifestyle by granting it legal protection, even political correctness, reveals just how depraved our once great nation has become. Should we now be shocked that homosexual marriage is on the verge of becoming a reality? It was inevitable. (full story)

George W. Bush: “My Dad Was Meeting with the Brother of Osama on September 11, 2001. Does That Make Him a Terror Suspect?”by Prof Michel Chossudovsky | Global ResearchAnti-Terrorism Double Standards:Ironically, the anti-terrorist legislation does not apply to politicians in high office, namely to the “State sponsors of terrorism”; nor does it apply to U.S. or Canadian diplomats, intelligence officials, who are routinely in liaison with terrorist organizations in the Middle East. Individuals can be arrested but presidents and prime ministers are allowed to mingle and socialize with family members of the World’s most renowned terrorist and alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks:Osama bin Laden. Lest we forget, one day before the 9/11 attacks, the dad of the sitting President of the United States of America, George Herbert Walker Bush was meeting none other than Shafig bin Laden, the brother of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. It was a routine business meeting on September 10-11, no conflict of interest, no relationship to the 9/11 attacks which allegedly were carried out on the orders of Shafiq’s brother Osama. (continue)

IRS Launches Investigation Of Clinton FoundationBy RICHARD POLLO | Daily CallerIRS Commissioner John Koskinen referred congressional charges of corrupt Clinton Foundation “pay-to-play” activities to his tax agency’s exempt operations office for investigation, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.The request to investigate the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation on charges of “public corruption” was made in a July 15 letter by 64 House Republicans to the IRS, FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They charged the foundation is “lawless.” (full story)

November 30, 2014US Military Waste: Pentagon Announced the day before 9/11 $2.3 Trillion Gone Missing

On September 10th 2001, Donald Rumsfield announced the Pentagon had misplaced $2.3 trillion dollars. Although he vowed to resolve this accounting hiccup immediately, the whole incident was buried the very next day along with 3,000 people who died in the 9/11 attacks. An Amazing coincidence? We think not.(full story)

Final Score: Brexit 1 - 0 Bilderbergs

[Although Stephen Lendman's critical review (below) of the Bilderberg Group was written in 2009, it still rings very true to this day. So it's no wonder those who oppose the Bilderbergs and all their diabolical plans are so ecstatic about today's triumph of the UK's Brexit vote to leave the EU - one of the puppet-masters of the Bilderbergs.]

“The True Story of the Bilderberg Group” and What They May Be Planning Nowby Stephen Lendman | Global Research. . . . . Whatever its early mission, the Bilderberg Group is now “a shadow world government….threatening to take away our right to direct our own destinies by creating a disturbing reality” very much harming the public’s welfare. In short, Bilderbergers want to supplant individual nation-state sovereignty with an all-powerful global government, corporate controlled, and check-mated by militarized enforcement. “Imagine a private club where presidents, prime ministers, international bankers and generals rub shoulders, where gracious royal chaperones ensure everyone gets along, and where the people running the wars, markets, and Europe (and America) say what they never dare say in public.”Early in its history, Bilderbergers decided “to create an ‘Aristocracy of purpose’ between Europe and the United States (to reach consensus to rule the world on matters of) policy, economics, and (overall) strategy.” NATO was essential for their plans – to ensure “perpetual war (and) nuclear blackmail” to be used as necessary. Then proceed to loot the planet, achieve fabulous wealth and power, and crush all challengers to keep it. Along with military dominance, controlling the world’s money is crucial for with it comes absolute control as the powerful 19th century Rothschild family understood. As the patriarch Amschel Rothschild once said: “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.” (full Story)

Military Drill Identifying “Hostile” U.S. States Sparks Alarmby Alex Newman | New American[Is the Federal Govt preparing for Martial Law?]

A massive U.S. military drill in 2016 dubbed “Jade Helm 15” listed Texas, Utah, and part of California as “hostile” or “insurgent pocket” territory. The unclassified information about this drill caused widespread alarm nationwide, with more than a few analysts suggesting it may have been some sort of exercise practicing to impose martial law on Americans fed up with an out-of-control federal government (full story)

'Arthur' - a Stray Dog that followed Extreme Athletes on a 430 mile Trek across the Amazon Jungles and Andes Mountains - earned himself an Adoption by a Swedish Team Member. With all of the craziness happening in the world today it's refreshing to hear a heart wrenching story about an injustice with a happy ending - in this case involving an abandoned dog in Ecuador - who ends up in a happy home in Sweden . The story of what Arthur did to get there though is nothing short of miraculous and could have been taken straight out of a Disney movie. (Full story)

ORLANDO ‘KNOWN WOLF’ Watched by FBI, Worked with DHS, Amid Crisis Actors, Drills & CI’sby Shawn Helton | 21st Century WireOrlando’s Pulse nightclub shooting is said to be the largest mass shooting in American history and in less than 24 hours, investigators already determined the incident to be an “ISIS-related” attack prior to a any investigation or forensic analysis. In this report we will attempt to answer a number of questions about a number of anomalies and unlikely coincidences surrounding this global media event.We’re told that this tragic attack was carried out by an international security firm employee turned ‘radicalized’ gunman –but is there more to the story? (full story)

French Government orders destruction of CCTV videos in Nice Attacks by Gearóid Ó ColmáinA report in 21st of July edition of Le Figaro newspaper states that France’s anti-terrorist executive ( sous-direction anti-terroriste- SDAT) has ordered Nice’s urban surveillance authorities to destroy all CCTV footage of the Nice Attacks on Bastille Day that rocked the city on the 14th of July 2015. Although SDAT have cited articles 53 and L706-24 of the prosecution procedure and article R642-1 of the penal code, authorities in Nice interviewed by Le Figaro say that it is the first time they have ever been asked to destroy evidence at a crime scene – something they point out is illegal. (full Story)The explanation given by the French Ministry of Justice is that they don’t want ‘uncontrolled’ and ‘non-authorised (non maîtrisée) diffusion of the images of the terrorist attacks. The Judicial Police have noted that 140 videos of the attacks in their possession show ‘important pieces of the inquiry’ (éléments d’enquête intéressants). The French government claims it wants to prevent ISIS from gaining access to videos of the attacks for the purposes of propaganda. They also claim that the destruction of evidence is intended to protect the families of the victims. The comments section of the Le Figaro article is replete with outrage and disgust by the fact that the French government, instead of preserving evidence for the purposes of a thorough, independent investigation, is in fact behaving rather more like the chief suspect in the attack – ordering the destruction of vital evidence.There is something rotten in France’s Judicial Police. Shortly after the Charlie Hebdo attacks on the 7th of January 2015, the judicial police behaved suspiciously before and as they did after the ‘suicide’ of Limoge’s deputy Police Commissioner Helric Fredou.

Father of Orlando Shooter is Long-time CIA Asset by 21st Century WireWith the Orlando Shooting, many things are just not right with this story, including the father of the alleged shooter Omar Mateen, an Afghan-American, Seddique Mateen, who is closely linked to some of the most powerful leaders and agencies in Washington DC. Above is a photo of Omar’s father after a meeting at the US State Dept. in Washington DC where he met with “officials”, but oddly, no log of his visit is available in the public record. (full story)

[WCM Postscript: In what promises to be the final demise of the American dream and all that is sacred to religious across the country, the not so supreme court's heathen decision to legalize same sex marriage - an 'obama-nation' in G-d's eyes - has resulted in a thunderbolt effect amongst G-d fearing people and organizations throughout America. Will this be the straw that broke the camel's back? It better be if America has any hope of surviving the inevitable onslaught of Divine retribution which will no doubt befall those who have no eyes to see nor ears to hear.]By Jay Gotera | Christiantoday.com. . . . By a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court recognised same-sex "marriages" throughout the United States under the 14th Amendment. However, the ruling drew the rebuke of Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, who said that the Supreme Court has knowingly chosen to reject biblical truths and endorsed sin instead, a Gospel Herald report said. "I'm disappointed because the government is recognizing sin," Graham told conservative columnist Todd Starnes. "This court is endorsing sin. That's what homosexuality is—a sin against God...I believe God could bring judgment upon America." Graham said Christians should prepare themselves for possible persecution following the Supreme Court's decision. "You better be ready and you better be prepared because it's coming. There will be persecution of Christians for our stand," he said. Regardless of the ruling, Graham said he will refuse to marry any same-sex couple. "I will never recognise it in my heart because God gave marriage between a man and a woman and that's what marriage is," he said. "And I don't think the court—since it never defined marriage—doesn't have the right to redefine it. God gave us marriage. Period. And God doesn't change his mind." Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, likewise denounced the Supreme Court ruling, saying it was "improper" for the court to redefine an institution that has existed long before man thought of establishing a government. "I believe this action of finding some illusory Fourteenth Amendment right to same-sex marriage will have wide-ranging and perilous consequences for the stability of families and for freedom of religion," Moore warned. (Full story)

Senate Democrats Clash With White House on C.I.A. Torture Reportby The New York Times In a tense confrontation with President Obama’s closest adviser on Thursday, a group of Senate Democrats accused the White House of trying to censor significant details in a voluminous report on the use of torture by the C.I.A. (full story)

​BBC Claim of US Battling Opium Production in Afghanistan - a Farce!

It never ceases to amaze how corporate press trumpets the government party line - many times in the face of obvious contradiction to the truth of the situation. A press release by the BBC concerning the US military battling record level opium production in Afghanistan was no exception. In doing our own research we were shocked to find that not only has the USA done little to stop the opium production in Afghanistan, in fact historically, they have gone to great lengths to protect the country's opium production! Read more

Is the Latest “ISIS Attack” Another False Flag? — ​by Paul Craig RobertsI have not looked into the latest attack blamed on ISIS, this time in Belgium, and I am not going to investigate it. The explanation was set in stone by the initial reporting, and any skepticism that is expressed is disregarded as conspiracy theory. I have seen reports that the bombs were in the ceilings and that the initial film released by authorities was in fact film from several years ago of the Chechnya attack on a Russian airport. If these reports are correct, they raise questions about the official set-in-stone story. But the questions won’t be asked. If the various bombings are false flag attacks, the governments will get away with them, because the attacks blamed on Muslim terrorists fit every agenda that is out there. Government agendas for more war, military spending, and police state measures are served. But so also are the agendas of those who want to limit immigration, those who want to blame the bombings on blowback from Western imperialism, those such as the Russian government who desire a united front against terrorism, and those who use the bombings to stress the innate goodness of the West, which attracts hatred because of its goodness. Washington likes the bombings because they keep Europeans scared and the governments under Washington’s thumb. (full story)

The Untold History of US War Crimesby By Peter Kuzinick and Edu MontesantiIn this exclusive interview, Prof Peter Kuznick speaks of: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagazaki; US crimes and lies behind the Vietnam war, and what was really behind that inhumane invasion; why the US engaged a Cold War with the Soviet Union, and how that war and the mainstream media influences the world today; the interests behind the assassinations of President Kennedy; US imperialism towards Latin America, during the Cold War and today, under the false premise of War on Terror and War on Drugs.(full story)

December 5, 2017Teresa May offers EU £50 billion to settle Divorce Bill while EU Mafia says thanks but offer not tied to trade deal! The EU thugs make it clear they have no intention of giving the UK a good trade deal - let alone a free trade deal after Teresa May sells out the UK general public with an outrageous offer of £50 billion. (full story)

November 12, 2017'You'll turn your back on British voters': Farage SNAPS at UK involvement with EU army

NIGEL Farage has warned the Government would be "turning its back" on British voters if it signs the UK up to what he says is the next step to creating an EU army.

The former Ukip leader challenged UK ministers to keep out of a new defence cooperation agreement set to be discussed in Brussels on Monday by ministers from the European Union's 28 states.Opponents of the EU's military ambitions fear the UK is poised to sign up to be part of the Permanent Structured Cooperation process - known as Pesco - even though we will leave the EU in 2019.Supporters of Pesco - who included the UK - say the aim is to deepen defence cooperation among member states "who are capable and willing" to do so.Participants will make "binding commitments" jointly to develop defence capabilities and make them available for EU military operations.

They're already establishing their own command centre in BrusselsNigel Farage​Opponents say it is a gateway to the development of a separate EU military organisation - which Brussels denies - that would challenge and undermine the role of the Nato transatlantic alliance.Pesco will have its own HQ and plans for EU military missions abroad, and comes alongside plans for a centralised European Defence Fund designed to develop an EU-wide defence industry and reduce reliance on foreign powers like America for equipment.The EU's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini has said Pesco could be ready to take effect in January.David Banks, of the group Veterans for Britain, told Mr Farage's LBC radio show that Britain should not be part of the agreement but he feared the Government’s past record of going along with EU defence initiatives suggested it would end up joining, as it has yet to rule out doing so.Mr Farage said it showed he was right over many years to warn about the EU's much-vaunted "European Defence Union" ambitions, despite pro-Europeans (Nick Clegg in particular) accusing him of peddling "fantasy".GETTY"It means a European Army, navy and airforce," stormed the MEP."They're already establishing their own command centre in Brussels. They've got the money, the structures for all it, and they're divying up which country will do the helicopter work, which will be the major naval provider."All of that is happening right now."They're pushing full-steam ahead with the European army. What's alarming me is that it looks like the UK is signing up to this on Monday."I'm furious about this. It should be a massive public row."We should not become part of a European army in any way at all."It's a very very bad idea. We are leaving the EU. I don't believe we should be part of their defence policy."He added: "Even if you think a European Army is a good idea, we voted Brexit."Surely a government considering signing up to this would be turning its back on the electorate. I'm hoping that by kicking off this debate, we can stop them from signing on Monday."A Government spokesperson confirmed Pesco is on the agenda for Monday's Foreign Affairs Council meeting, where UK delegates will include Defence Minister Earl Howe. But they could not confirm if attendees would be asked to sign a document.The spokesperson said: "We welcome the progress towards the launch of Pesco and are engaging with its development where appropriate."This will be a useful tool to support European security, provided it remains complementary to Nato and encourages Nato-EU cooperation."No final decisions have yet been made about whether the UK will participate in Pesco.But Britain supported the agreement being open to some involvement of non-EU countries "where there is a clear benefit to do so".

14 October 2017French intelligence texts jihadist by mistake, inadvertently warning of surveillance operationby David Chazan | TelegraphA French intelligence agent sent a text message by mistake to the mobile phone of a jihadist, inadvertently warning him that he was under surveillance and undermining an investigation, it emerged on Friday.The target of the probe, described as an “Islamist preacher” based in the Paris area, immediately understood that his phone was being tapped and his movements monitored.He called the agent to complain and warned his contacts that they were under surveillance. As a result, separate investigations by two different intelligence services came to nothing, M6 television reported.“It was undoubtedly the worst mistake the agent ever made,” M6 commented. Interior ministry sources confirmed the report.ADVERTISINGThe intelligence officer had meant to send the text to a colleague last Saturday. It contained information about the Islamist and the progress of the investigation.It was only when the Islamist decided to have some fun at the officer’s expense and phoned him minutes after he sent the text that he realised what he had done.The two agencies involved, the Central Territorial Intelligence Service and the General Directorate for Internal Security, were furious over the mishap.The incident came as France remains under a state of emergencydeclared after the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. Some of the emergency measures, notably beefed up police powers, are to be made permanent under a bill that has been approved by the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly.Despite criticism that the legislation risks curtailing civil liberties because it codifies measures such as stop and seizure and house arrest without judicial review, most of the provisions are expected to stand.Human rights groups want greater oversight by courts, arguing that the bill would grant excessive powers to security forces whose suspicions could stem from flawed or incomplete intelligence.

November 6, 2017AUTHORITIES ARE NOW REFUSING TO RELEASE ANY NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAS VEGAS MASSACRE – FBI SAYS “IT DOESN’T MATTER”by Alex Thomas | The Daily Sheeple

In yet another obvious example of the massive cover-up currently underway surrounding the Las Vegas Massacre, authorities with both the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI have refused to provide any updates to the media since they ridiculously changed their entire narrative two weeks ago.The silence from authorities has gotten so obvious that even local mainstream news outlets are sounding the alarm. When you couple this with the documented evidence that points to both the LVMP and the FBI lying directly to the American people you have all the hallmarks of a classic false flat terror operation.“Fifty-eight people killed. More than 500 injured. And yet, nearly a month after the Las Vegas Strip experienced the worst mass shooting in modern American history, local and federal authorities are refusing to fill in the blanks,” The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.“It wasn’t always like this. In the days after Oct. 1, when Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest festival crowd from his Mandalay Bay corner suite, Las Vegas police were hosting multiple news conferences a day. Then, once a day. Then, once every few days.”The above paragraph is striking in that it openly admits that at first authorities were quick to deliver their message, attempting to lock in the official narrative surrounding the worst mass shooting in American history. Only after independent investigators began to tear apart the official narrative did authorities all of a sudden decide they need to be cautious about what they put out, eventually moving to where we are now with literally no new information being released.The Review-Journal goes on to note that by October 13th (when the alternative media had broken the story wide open) the sheriff had changed his manner completely, going from a seemingly straight forward and stern speaker to now emotional and combative. Keep in mind this was right around the time that outlets like The Daily Sheeple and Intellihub, as well as independent reporters like Laura Loomer, were publishing explosive reports that proved that the sheriff and his FBI handlers were indeed lying to the American people. (full article)

[As homelessness sky rockets in the UK - and a recent estimate by the 'Shelter' Charity reveals over 300,000 Brits or 1 in 200 adults in Britain are either sleeping rough or living in inadequate housing - the BBC presents the direct experiences of 12 homeless adults and their views on the subject]Full story -

All hell is breaking loose in Washington D.C. after a four-page memo detailing extensive FISA court abuse was made available to the entire House of Representatives Thursday. The contents of the memo are so explosive, says Journalist Sara Carter, that it could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and the Department of Justice and the end of Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation.These sources say the report is “explosive,” stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates. -Sara CarterA source close to the matter tells Fox News that "the memo details the Intelligence Committee's oversight work for the FBI and Justice, including the controversy over unmasking and FISA surveillance." An educated guess by anyone who's been paying attention for the last year leads to the obvious conclusion that the report reveals extensive abuse of power and highly illegal collusion between the Obama administration, the FBI, the DOJ and the Clinton Campaign against Donald Trump and his team during and after the 2016 presidential election. Lawmakers who have seen the memo are calling for its immediate release, while the phrases "explosive," "shocking," "troubling," and "alarming" have all been used in all sincerity. One congressman even likened the report's details to KGB activity in Russia. “It is so alarming the American people have to see this,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan told Fox News. “It's troubling. It is shocking,” North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows said. “Part of me wishes that I didn't read it because I don’t want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much.”Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., offered the motion on Thursday to make the Republican majority-authored report available to the members.“The document shows a troubling course of conduct and we need to make the document available, so the public can see it,” said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the document. “Once the public sees it, we can hold the people involved accountable in a number of ways.”The government official said that after reading the document “some of these people should no longer be in the government.” -Sara Carter

Bob Curry, 64, is in a B&B in Hereford thanks to mates as the council failed to house him. SAS hero Bob Curry has been left penniless and homeless as his local council can't find him a place to liveBob, who helped free 19 hostages in London, warned: “This can happen to any veteran.” The hero told of his despair at facing life on the streets - broke and homeless after decades of service to his country.“It was as if the society I had fought for all my life had turned its back on me.”He is temporarily in a B&B, paid for by charity handouts, because his local council says it cannot find him a home. The former SAS sergeant fell on hard times when a business collapsed last July and he lost his home when splitting up with his partner of 25 years.Proud Bob — who served in the Falklands war and undercover tours in Northern Ireland — said: “If this can happen to me it can happen to any veteran.“And it is happening to veterans all over the country.”The Sun backed a petition by SAS legend Andy McNab to urge Herefordshire County Council to recognise Bob’s service to his country and find him a permanent, suitable home.The 64-year-old said: 'The society I had fought for all my life has turned its back on me'Andy said: “He not only needs help, this guy deserves our help.“We don’t want any veteran left behind, but Bob has paid his dues, and should be looked after."Hopefully we can put pressure on the council to act.”Col Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: “He should go to the front of the queue for council housing right now. “He’s risked his life for this country — given a huge amount to defending her citizens.”Bob and other hooded ‘Who Dares Wins’ troopers stormed the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980 to free hostages being held by terrorists. Known to mates as “Backdoor Bob”, he bravely stormed the rear of the building while comrades abseiled from the balcony in iconic TV images seen by millions around the world.The 64-year-old bravely stormed the rear door of the Iranian Embassy in 1980 in iconic TV images which beamed across the world He was in a team who faced dissidents armed with pistols, sub-machine guns and grenades.Five gunmen were killed and one was arrested. Although one hostage died, 19 were freed.Bob, who also worked as a close protection officer for Princess Diana, has since had two heart attacks, is registered disabled and a diabetic. In 2015 he sold his medals for more than £20,000 to raise funds as his business failed.He said: “I've been in tough spots through my career but with my health now I wouldn’t have survived long on the streets — SAS training or not.“I was sat in the council offices explaining my life to someone who looked at me as though I was nothing. It's hard to go cap in hand to the council and ask for help. I hated it but I had no choice.”Herefordshire County Council told him in November to fill in forms for a council house to see if he fitted criteria. He is still waiting. The only place they could offer was a hostel containing ex-crooks, drug addicts and people with mental problems. But Bob could only cope there for two nights. He said: “I was sleeping on a sofa in my daughter’s rental house for all of December.”He swallowed his pride and asked the Royal British Legion and SAS Regimental Association. if they could help. They found B&B accommodation in Hereford but only for 28 days.Bob joined the Army as a boy soldier aged 15½ in 1968 before joining the SAS in 1979. He left in 1985 and later worked for then Harrods owner Mohammed Fayed and guarded son Dodi. Bob stressed: “A lot of veterans struggle and need help and they are not getting it.”Herefordshire county council said: “We are continuing to work with the individual to help them secure appropriate housing.”

February 4, 2018​CIA, FBI Agents Respond To Nunes' Memoby Tyler Durden | zerohedgeWe already noted the opposing perspectives of those in the media with regard the Nunes' memo as being on the one hand "a nothing-burger" and on the other "we have never ever in history seen anything like this."And we have heard from current ("talk is cheap... keep calm and tackle hard") and former ("dishonest and misleading") heads of The FBI.But now we get to hear from the rank-and-file of America's intelligence agencies and, once again, the perspectives could not be further apart...First, as The Hill reports,a former FBI agent says in a new op-ed that he has left the nation's top law enforcement agency due to the "relentless" attacks on the bureau from critics such as President Trump and congressional Republicans.In an op-ed for The New York Times, former supervisory special agent Josh Campbell wrote that "political attacks on the bureau must stop.""After more than a decade of service, which included investigating terrorism, working to rescue kidnapping victims overseas and being special assistant to the director, I am reluctantly turning in my badge and leaving an organization I love." Campbell wrote."Why? So I can join the growing chorus of people who believe that the relentless attacks on the bureau undermine not just America’s premier law enforcement agency but also the nation’s security," he continued."My resignation is painful, but the alternative of remaining quiet while the bureau is tarnished for political gain is impossible."Campbell also defended the agency's involvement in the events described in the memo, which alleges the FBI and Department of Justice abused their surveillance powers."[E]very statement of fact included in an affidavit for foreign intelligence collection must withstand the scrutiny of at least 10 people in the Department of Justice hierarchy before it is reviewed by an independent court," he wrote.Campbell goes on to argue it would be "disingenuous" for Republicans to argue that the FBI is "plotting from within" against Trump or in favor of his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, despite text messages between FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page seeming to confirm Strzok's political bias against Trump."These political attacks on the bureau must stop. If those critics of the agency persuade the public that the FBI cannot be trusted, they will also have succeeded in making our nation less safe," he said.Campbell's op-ed comes after the publication Friday of Nunes' memo allegedly detailing abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by the FBI.However, another former intelligence agency operative saw things very differently.Ray McGovern, 27-year veteran of the CIA and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), exclaims the newly released "Nunes Memo" reveals felony wrongdoing by top members of the FBI and DOJ for misrepresenting evidence to obtain a FISA warrant and may implicate other intelligence officials.The long-awaited House Intelligence Committee report made public today identifies current and former top officials of the FBI and the Department of Justice as guilty of the felony of misrepresenting evidence required to obtain a court warrant before surveilling American citizens. The target was candidate Donald Trump’s adviser Carter Page.The main points of what is widely known as the “Nunes Memo,” after the House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), have been nicely summarized by blogger Publius Tacitus, who noted that the following very senior officials are now liable for contempt-of-court charges; namely, the current and former members of the FBI and the Department of Justice who signed off on fraudulent applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court: James Comey, Andy McCabe, Sally Yates, Dana Boente and Rob Rosenstein. The following is Publius Tacitus’s summary of the main points:· The dubious but celebrated Steele Dossier played a critical role in obtaining approval from the FISA court to carry out surveillance of Carter Page according to former FBI Deputy Director Andy McCabe.· Christopher Steele was getting paid by the DNC and the FBI for the same information.· No one at the FBI or the DOJ disclosed to the court that the Steele dossier was paid for by an opposition political campaign.· The first FISA warrant was obtained on October 21, 2016 based on a story written by Michael Isikoff for Yahoo News based on information he received directly from Christopher Steele — the FBI did not disclose in the FISA application that Steele was the original source of the information.· Christopher Steele was a long-standing FBI “source” but was terminated as a source after telling Mother Jones reporter David Corn that he had a relationship with the FBI.· The FBI signers of the FISA applications/renewals were James Comey (three times) and Andrew McCabe.· The DOJ signers of the FISA applications/renewals were Sally Yates, Dana Boente and Rod Rosenstein.· Even after Steele was terminated by the FBI, he remained in contact with Deputy Attorney General Bruce Our, whose wife worked for FUSION GPS, a contractor that was deeply involved with the Steele dossier.From what Michael Isikoff reported in September 2016 it appears that the CIA and the Director of National Intelligence (as well as the FBI) are implicated in spreading the disinformation about Trump and Russia. Isikoff wrote: (Full Article)​

Thursday, 14 January 2018Trump Admin. Begins Paving the Way for WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange to Go Free

The Trump administration has laid the groundwork for clearing the biggest obstacle keeping WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (shown) from leaving the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Assange has been in exile there since August 2012 and has feared leaving, since the U.S. government has considered him a criminal suspect for his role in publishing classified documents detailing sometimes criminal actions by U.S. federal departments and agents.In a tweet last week, WikiLeaks pointed out that the U.S. government has “decided to close its eight year long grand jury proceedings against @WikiLeaks (expanded in 2017 to cover our series on the CIA).” The WikiLeaks tweet was a reference to a statement made by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert during a press conference on January 2. Speaking about Iran, Nauert said, “We support a freedom of the press. When a nation clamps down on social media, we ask the question, ‘What are you afraid of?’ What are you afraid of? We support the people of Iran, and we support their voices being heard.”After the press conference, the official Department of State Twitter account tweeted Nauert’s quote. WkiLeaks retweeted it and drew the inference that the message — while directed at the government of Iran — was applicable to a shift in the policy of the United States as a result of the election of Donald Trump and that that shift was the reason why the eight-year-long grand jury proceedings have been closed.Even more promising to Assange’s plight is the fact that President Trump’s lawyers have filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia arguing that Assange’s publication of the DNC and John Podesta e-mails was protected by the First Amendment even if the e-mails were stolen.While that motion is specifically geared toward Assange’s publication of the DNC and Podesta e-mails, it recognizes WikiLeaks as a valid media organization protected by the First Amendment. WikiLeaks has not always been seen in that light by the powers-that-be in the U.S. government.Assange and WikiLeaks first came to national (and international) attention in 2010 — four years after WikiLeaks was founded. What catapulted WkiLeaks onto the front pages of newspapers and websites around the world was the whistleblower organization’s exposé of the U.S. war in Iraq. That exposé included a trove of classified documents and other files leaked to WikiLeaks by Private Bradley Manning. Manning was working as an intelligence analyst and smuggled the files out by copying them to a CD marked “Lady Gaga.”One of those files was a classified video recorded by the crew of an Apache helicopter that shows what WikiLeaks aptly described as “the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters news staff.” WikiLeaks ” (WARNING: The video is graphic and clearly shows the Apache firing on and killing innocent citizens. Viewer discretion is advised.)Because of that publication and the infamous “CableGate” publication that followed shortly, Assange wound up on the wrong side of the U.S. government — with many (including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) calling for his death. When — shortly after that — Assange was accused of rape (those charges have since been dropped), he fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, saying that he believed that if he were arrested, he would extradited to the United States and would be killed.Subsequent releases by WikiLeaks have certainly not helped ingratiate Assange to the U.S. government. In the WikiLeaks tweet above, there is a reference to a “series on the CIA.” That series — known as Vault 7 — was an exposé of hacking tools developed by the CIA which this writer covered in several articles. Those articles can be found (1) here, (2) here, (3) here, (4) here, (5) here, (6) here, (7) here, and (8) here. Many of those hacking tools were designed to spy on citizens by turning their own devices into surveillance tools. The CIA — in a move that would have embarrassed the Keystone Kops — managed to “lose” those tools and set them loose in the wild for any hacker to download and use.So, while the powers-that-be in the U.S. government may (at least under the previous administration) have seen Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies, there is little doubt that the service WikiLeaks has provided to the cause of liberty is invaluable.Now, with Nauert’s statement about “freedom of the press,” the closing of the grand jury proceedings, and the motion filed by Trump’s lawyers, WikiLeaks has received something close to the imprimatur of the U.S. government as a legitimate media organization. By extension, Assange is likewise “redeemed.” All of that may add up to Assange being able to finally end his exile and leave the embassy a free man.

January 14, 2018The Climate Change Scam ​by James Corbett | The Corbett ReportFast forward the above video to 16:00 minutes and listen to James Corbett discuss the latest scandals on the Climate Change deception where ample proof shows key scientists deliverately and fraudlaently withheld data from the public to fuel the climate change scam. Corbett then blows the lid off the misconceotion that big oil is trying to derail climate change when if fact big oil are pouring millions of dollars into organizations promoting climate change - but why? Listen and you will see.

Harold Camping was wrong about Judgment Day, but he was right that the rise of the homosexual movement is a sign of the end times.We are probably all familiar with the oft-cited fact that the collapse of numerous civilizations prior to our own were heralded by a rise in sexual immorality, especially homosexuality. That alone should alert us to the grave situation we find ourselves in today. But there is a deeper spiritual significance beneath that statistic. God has chosen rampant homosexuality to be a key warning sign for judgment of the world as a whole, and not just of individual nations.Genesis is the book of beginnings which sets the tone and lays the foundation for all of our theology. It is there in the first chapter that God establishes the “one flesh” standard for human sexuality which is lifetime, monogamous heterosexual marriage. This isn’t just a guide for individual conduct, it is the essential bedrock of civilization.Thus, the corruption of marriage was instrumental in bringing about the wickedness and violence that caused God to bring the flood upon the world. Jesus warned that “as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ‘For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark‘” (Matt. 24:37-38, referencing Gen 6-7). Not only had marriage been corrupted, the people were so apathetic of that fact that they gave no credence to Noah’s warning that their sin would soon end in judgement. (Full article)

· Undercover FBI informant William Campbell has given written testimony to Congressional investigators after an "iron clad" gag order was lifted in October· Campbell was a highly valued CIA and FBI asset deeply embedded in the Russian nuclear industry while Robert Mueller was the Director of the FBI· Campbell was required by the Russians, under threat, to launder large sums of money - which allowed the FBI to uncover a massive Russian "nuclear money laundering apparatus"· He collected over 5,000 documents and briefs over a six year period, some of which detail efforts by Moscow to route money to the Clinton Foundation· Campbell claims to have video evidence of bribe money related to the Uranium One deal being stuffed into suitcases.· The Obama FBI knew about the bribery scheme, yet the administration still approved the Uranium One deal.· To thank him for his service, Campbell was paid $51,000 by FBI officials at a 2016 celebration dinner in Chrystal City· When it emerged that Campbell had evidence against the Clinton Foundation, a Yahoo News articleby Michael Isikoff(of FISA warrant application fame) slammed Campbell as a "disaster" potential witnessAn undercover FBI informant embedded in the Russian nuclear industry who was made to sign an "illegal NDA" by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch has finally given his testimony to three Congressional committees. William D. Campbell became an FBI counterintelligence asset after spending several years as a CIA operative who developed working relationships in the nuclear industry in Kazakhstan and Russia.“For several years my relationship with the CIA consisted of being debriefed after foreign travel,” Campbell noted in his testimony, which was obtained by this reporter. “Gradually, the relationship evolved into the CIA tasking me to travel to specific countries to obtain specific information. In the 1990’s I developed a working relationship with Kazakhstan and Russia in their nuclear energy industries. When I told the CIA of this development, I was turned over to FBI counterintelligence agents.” -saracarter.comThe FBI embedded Campbell in the Russian nuclear industry for six years, where he gathered extensive evidence of two separate but related "pay for play" schemes related to the United States uranium industry:First, Campbell discovered that Moscow had compromised an American uranium trucking firm, Transport Logistics International (TLI) in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act – which bribed a Russian nuclear official in exchange for a contract transport Russian-mined U.S. uranium, including "yellowcake" uranium secured in the Uranium One deal.Second, Campbell says that Russian nuclear officials told him of a scheme to route millions of dollars to the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) through lobbying firm ARPCO, which was expected to funnel a portion of its annual $3 million lobbying fee to the charity. “The contract called for four payments of $750,000 over twelve months. APCO was expected to give assistance free of charge to the Clinton Global Initiative as part of their effort to create a favorable environment to ensure the Obama administration made affirmative decisions on everything from Uranium One to the U.S.-Russia Civilian Nuclear Cooperation agreement.“ -William CampbellCampbell told Congressional investigators that the Uranium One deal along with billions in other uranium contracts inside the United States during the Obama administration was part of a "Russian uranium dominance strategy" involving Tenex and its American arm Tenem - both subsidiaries of state-owned Russian energy company Rosatom. “The emails and documents I intercepted during 2010 made clear that Rosatom’s purchase of Uranium One – for both its Kazakh and American assets – was part of Russia’s geopolitical strategy to gain leverage in global energy markets,” he testified. “I obtained documentary proof that Tenex was helping Rosatom win CFIUS approval, including an October 6, 2010 email … asking me specifically to help overcome opposition to the Uranium One deal.” (full story)

February 26, 2018Erdogan vows to recapture all lands once held by the Ottoman Empire — and more​BY ROBERT SPENCER | jihadwatch.org

“We say at every opportunity we have that Syria, Iraq and other places in the geography [map] in our hearts are no different from our own homeland. We are struggling so that a foreign flag will not be waved anywhere where adhan [Islamic call to prayer in mosques] is recited.”Apparently Erdogan means at the very least the recapture of all the lands once held by the Ottoman Empire. That’s not just Greece, as in the article title below. That’s also Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Algeria, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and more. How seriously this can be taken is anybody’s guess, but it shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. Erdogan is already moving against the Kurds in Syria, explicitly calling the action a “jihad” and invoking the Ottoman era repeatedly.And “We are struggling so that a foreign flag will not be waved anywhere where adhan [Islamic call to prayer in mosques] is recited” refers to far more than just the old Ottoman domains. That means everywhere there are Muslims in Europe and everywhere else. The caliphate is, in Sunni Islamic theology, the sole legitimate government for Muslims on earth, to which all Muslims owe allegiance. Erdogan is saying more clearly than he ever has before, as far as I know, that he is going to restore the caliphate. And he is virtually promising war with the non-Muslim (at least for now) states of Europe.How far we have come. Just a few years ago, mainstream analysts would dismiss my talk of jihad and the caliphate by pointing to Turkey as an example of how Islam can coexist with democracy, and confidently predicting that soon the rest of the Islamic world would follow Turkey’s lead. Now they don’t talk about Turkey so much anymore.“Turkey Threatens to Invade Greece,” by Uzay Bulut, Gatestone Institute, February 19, 2018:…Referring to the days of the Ottoman Empire, Erdoğan went on:“Those who think that we have erased from our hearts the lands from which we withdrew in tears a hundred years ago are wrong.“We say at every opportunity we have that Syria, Iraq and other places in the geography [map] in our hearts are no different from our own homeland. We are struggling so that a foreign flag will not be waved anywhere where adhan [Islamic call to prayer in mosques] is recited.“The things we have done so far [pale in comparison to the] even greater attempts and attacks [we are planning for] the coming days, inshallah [Allah willing].”…

March 1st 2018The Gay Agenda BlueprintA Plan to Transform America (into a living hell)by Charles Melear | ucg.orgToday’s issues regarding the gay lifestyle have been orchestrated by activists for more than 25 years. This was no accident or chance course of events.Do you consider yourself an independent thinker? What is the source of your conclusions regarding right or wrong? How do you determine your opinions regarding the news and political events?Professional marketers develop strategies to influence and persuade potential customers to purchase their products. Some are very successful, as you can probably hum or sing dozens of pithy jingles or recognize the logos of many companies.But you should also realize that people are affecting our culture who you’ve probably never heard of. How about Dan Wieden, co-founder of the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy? Have you ever repeated the Nike slogan “Just do it”? Wieden developed that phrase in 1988.Have you ever used the expression, “Where’s the beef?” Wendy’s hamburger chain profited from that slogan’s creator, Cliff Freeman, around 1984. You’ve probably never heard of him either.You’ve also likely never heard of Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen. Nevertheless, these men have directly affected your life and American culture—strategically, gradually, subtly and definitely intentionally.In the November 1987 edition of Guide, a magazine for homosexuals, the two men authored an article titled “ The Overhauling of Straight America .” There Kirk, a researcher in neuropsychiatry, and Madsen, a public relations consultant, laid out a blueprint to fundamentally change Americans’ attitudes toward homosexuals and homosexuality. In 1989 they expanded that blueprint into a 398-page book titled After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90s.The “bible” of the homosexual agendaTheir goal was to make homosexuality acceptable and to forge negative opinions of any who disagree. The article began by stating: “ The first order of business is desensitization of the American public concerning gays and gay rights. To desensitize the public is to help it view homosexuality with indifference … She likes strawberry and I like vanilla; he follows baseball and I follow football. No big deal. ” (We quote from the Guide article rather than the book, which at times is quite vulgar and graphic. Interested readers can find the article in whole or in part online.)One person described “The Overhauling of Straight America” as the “bible” of the homosexual agenda. It is quite a contrast to the Bible of Christianity.The authors, relating to the culture of the late 1980s, were realistic. They continued: “At least in the beginning we are seeking public desensitization and nothing more. We do not need and cannot expect a full ‘appreciation’ or ‘understanding’ of homosexuality from the average American. You can forget about trying to persuade the masses that homosexuality is a good thing. But if you can only get them to think that is just another thing … , then your battle for legal and social rights is virtually won. ”To understand how startlingly successful their blueprint proved to be, consider this: In 1987, the year that article was published, Gallup polls showed that only 33 percent of those polled thought that same-sex relations between consenting adults should be legal, while 55 percent thought such action should be outlawed (numbers don’t total 100 percent because some offered no opinion). By 2015, the numbers were more than reversed—68percent believed such sexual relations should be legal and only 28 percent were opposed.Same-sex marriage was so off the radar that it wasn’t even asked about in Gallup polls until 1996, when only 27 percent approved and 68 percent were opposed. Today, Gallup polls show that 58 percent approve and 40 percent disapprove—another startling turnaround in attitudes.Gallup polls in 1989 showed that only 19 percent of Americans believed people were born homosexual, with 48 percent believing it was due to environmental factors such as upbringing. By 2015 those numbers had dramatically shifted to 51 percent believing homosexuals were born that way and only 30 percent attributing it to other factors. (This is in spite of the fact that extensive genetic research and many studies of identical twins where only one was homosexual have disproven genetic determinism.)Well-researched surveys (as opposed to some with markedly skewed samples and/or methodology) have consistently placed the homosexual population of America at around 2 to 3 percent—yet the influence of homosexuals on American culture is vastly out of proportion with their actual numbers. How did this come to be?For those who remember what American culture was like in 1987 when the blueprint was first published, you can easily evaluate whether the six strategies they outlined have been successful. For those too young to remember the late 80s, consider how pervasive these things are in the culture you experience today.What was their blueprint for overhauling American attitudes? Following are the six steps they advocated a quarter-century ago. (remaining article)

​March 16 2018The Amazing True Story Of How Hillary Clinton Secretly Cheated Bernie Sanders Out Of A Fair Shot At The Democratic Nomination

Yes, Hillary Clinton really did steal the Democratic nomination from Bernie Sanders, but most people have absolutely no idea how she actually did it. In the end, it was all about the money. A secret joint fundraising agreement that was made between the Democratic National Committee, the Hillary Victory Fund, and Hillary for America gave the Clinton campaign full control of the Democratic Party nearly a year before she officially won the nomination. Normally, a presidential candidate for a major party would only be permitted to take full control once the nomination had been secured. But in Hillary’s case, her campaign had a stranglehold over the Democratic National Committee virtually the entire time she was engaged in a heated battle with Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination.

In her new book entitled Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House, Donna Brazile gives us the inside scoop about what really happened inside the DNC during this time period. When she first took over the DNC, she actually had no idea of what had transpired, and when she finally discovered the truth it absolutely horrified her. On Thursday, Politico published an excerpt from Brazile’s new book in an article entitled “Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC”…'I had promised Bernie when I took the helm of the Democratic National Committee after the convention that I would get to the bottom of whether Hillary Clinton’s team had rigged the nomination process, as a cache of emails stolen by Russian hackers and posted online had suggested. I’d had my suspicions from the moment I walked in the door of the DNC a month or so earlier, based on the leaked emails. But who knew if some of them might have been forged? I needed to have solid proof, and so did Bernie.'Brazile ultimately found the proof that she was looking for by following the money. The Democratic National Committee has been in terrible financial shape for years, and by the time Brazile took over it had become completely and utterly dependent on the Clinton campaign for financial support. Here is more from her new book…The campaign had the DNC on life support, giving it money every month to meet its basic expenses, while the campaign was using the party as a fund-raising clearinghouse. Under FEC law, an individual can contribute a maximum of $2,700 directly to a presidential campaign. But the limits are much higher for contributions to state parties and a party’s national committee.Individuals who had maxed out their $2,700 contribution limit to the campaign could write an additional check for $353,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund—that figure represented $10,000 to each of the 32 states’ parties who were part of the Victory Fund agreement—$320,000—and $33,400 to the DNC. The money would be deposited in the states first, and transferred to the DNC shortly after that. Money in the battleground states usually stayed in that state, but all the other states funneled that money directly to the DNC, which quickly transferred the money to Brooklyn.But this dependence on the Clinton campaign did not begin once she had won the nomination.Actually, it started all the way back in August 2015, which was just four short months after Hillary Clinton originally announced that she would be running for president.Brazile was able to find the joint fundraising agreement that had begun this arrangement, and it is the “smoking gun” which proves that Bernie Sanders never had a fair shot at winning the nomination…When I got back from a vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, I at last found the document that described it all: the Joint Fund-Raising Agreement between the DNC, the Hillary Victory Fund, and Hillary for America.The agreement—signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook with a copy to Marc Elias—specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.How in the world was Bernie Sanders supposed to have a fair chance if Hillary was in full control of “the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised”?The mainstream media has spent months trying to prove that President Trump colluded with the Russians and they haven’t come up with anything.And yet now we have smoking gun evidence that Hillary Clinton actually did collude with the DNC to cheat Bernie Sanders out of a fair shot at the Democratic nomination, and the big media outlets so far are not making a big deal out of it.Sadly, most Americans have just become resigned to the fact that our political system has become a cesspool of filth and corruption. Most of us simply accept that it has always been this way and that things will never change.Well, I happen to believe that things can change if we are willing to fight back. The election of Donald Trump showed us that anything is possible, and we need a new generation of leaders that are willing to go to Washington and drain the swamp.We cannot let Hillary Clinton off the hook, and so please share this article as widely as possible. Just because she lost the election does not mean that we should forget about her crimes. We tend to get on members of Congress for doing this, but it is our responsibility as well.It has been said that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”, and if we want to take our country back we have to hold corrupt leaders such as Hillary Clinton accountable. Because if we don’t shine a light on this kind of corruption, it will just keep on happening…

April 4, 2018Towards “NATO-Exit”? Shift in the Structure of Military Coalitions. Turkey’s Alliance with Russia, China and Iran?

Reminiscent of World War I, shifting alliances and the structure of military coalitions are crucial determinants of history.Today’s military alliances, including “cross-cutting coalitions” between “Great Powers” are equally dangerous, markedly different and exceedingly more complex than those pertaining to World War I. (i.e the confrontation between “The Triple Entente” and “the Triple Alliance”).Contemporary developments point to a historical shift in the structure of military alliances which could contribute to weakening US hegemony in the Middle Eastas well as creating conditions which could lead to a breakup of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).NATO constitutes a formidable military force composed of 29 member states, which is largely controlled by the Pentagon. It is a military coalition and an instrument of modern warfare. It constitutes a threat to global security and World peace. Divisions within the Atlantic Alliance could take the form of one or more member states deciding to “Exit NATO”. Inevitably an NATO-Exit movement would weaken the unfolding consensus imposed by our governments which at the this juncture in our history consists in threatening to wage a pre-emptive war against the Russian Federation. ***In this article, we will largely be addressing a concrete case of a NATO member state’s intent to exit the Atlantic Alliance NATO, namely Turkey’s “NATO-Exit” and its evolving rapprochement with Russia as well as with Iran and China.

Turkey is contemplating a “NATO-Exit”, the implications of which are far-reaching. Military alliances are being redefined.In turn, Turkey in Northern Syria is fighting against America’s proxy Kurdish forces, i.e. one NATO member state is fighting another NATO member state.Russia’s stance in relation to Turkey’s military actions in Northern Syria is ambiguous. Russia is an ally of Syria, whose country has been invaded by Turkey, an ally of Russia.From a broader military standpoint, Turkey is actively cooperating with Russia, which has recently pledged to ensure Turkey’s security. “Moscow underscores that Turkey can calmly withdraw from NATO, and after doing so Ankara will have guarantees that it will not face any threat [from US-NATO] in terms of ensuring its own security,” (According to statement of Turkish Air Force Major-general Beyazit Karatas (ret)):Moreover, Ankara will be acquiring in 2020 Russia’s state of the art S-400 air defense system while de facto opting out from the integrated US-NATO-Israel air defense system. The S-400 deal is said to have caused “concern” “because Turkey is a member of NATO and the [S-400] system cannot be integrated into NATO’s military architecture”. (full article)

After many days of delay inside the security arch of Damascus' city center, the international chemical weapons watchdog group, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), announced that its team of investigators finally entered the Damascus suburb town of Douma early on Saturday. In an official statement posted to its website, the OPCW confirmed the following: The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) team of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited one of the sites in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic today to collect samples for analysis in connection with allegations of chemical weapons use on 7 April 2018. The OPCW will evaluate the situation and consider future steps including another possible visit to Douma.The OPCW Fact-Finding Mission will initially study the collected samples at an OPCW lab in the Netherlands, with potential sample distribution to its other designated labs. In the past, it's take up to multiple weeks or months for the OPCW to issue a preliminary report to the public. The statement continues: The samples collected will be transported to the OPCW Laboratory in Rijswijk and then dispatched for analysis to the OPCW’s designated labs. Based on the analysis of the sample results as well other information and materials collected by the team, the FFM will compile their report for submission to the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention for their consideration.It is unclear if any of what was collected includes tissue samples from corpses as it's now being widely reported that the jihadist group which previously held the area - Jaish al-Islam - hastily buried the bodies of alleged chemical attack victims. Though the team was invited into the country by the Syrian and Russian governments - both signatories to the international body devoted to decommissioning global stockpiles of banned chemical weapons - there's been much spin and obfuscation regarding why the team was actually delayed, with a number of media outlets in the West falsely claiming that Syria and Russia were attempting a cover-up.This was based in part on the unverified claims of political leaders in the West who have long sought Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster, and who have given covert aid to various jihadist rebel groups. France's foreign minister, for example, accused both Damascus and Russia of "obstructionism [which] is obviously undermining the caliber of the investigation. It is most likely aimed at removing evidence and other material elements linked to the chemical attack on the very site where it took place."However, in spite of multiple international headlines, Western leaders, and journalists who reside far outside of Syria claiming a chemical cover-up conspiracy in the making, the OPCW in official statements confirmed that they were prevented from visiting Douma not by Syrian or Russian authorities, but by United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), which has the final say over OPCW movements within Syria. On Wednesday (April 18) the Director General of the OPCW Ahmet Üzümcü, issued a statement which proved the "Syria/Russia hiding evidence" theory false: On 16 April, we received confirmation from the National Authority of the Syrian Arab Republic that, under agreements reached to allow the evacuation of the population in Ghouta, the Syrian military were unable to enter Douma. The security for the sites where the FFM plans to deploy was under the control of the Russian Military Police. The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has made the necessary arrangements with the Syrian authorities to escort the team to a certain point and then for the escort to be taken over by the Russian Military Police. However, the UNDSS preferred to first conduct a reconnaissance visit to the sites, which took place yesterday. FFM team members did not participate in this visit.On arrival at Site 1, a large crowd gathered and the advice provided by the UNDSS was that the reconnaissance team should withdraw. At Site 2, the team came under small arms fire and an explosive was detonated. The reconnaissance team returned to Damascus.Though the OPCW statement further acknowledged the area to be a "highly volatile environment" fraught with "security risks" - a number of journalists actually made it into Douma early in the week prior to the OPCW team's arrival.Some among this early group of journalists which gained entry to the site, such as the UK Independent's Robert Fisk and One America News Network's Pearson Sharp found no evidence that a chemical attack took place in Douma, contrary to what's been widely reported in international media.

​[WARNING: This article contains sexually explicit language that may not be suitable for younger readers.—Editor]Today homosexuality is considered by many people to be a normal and perfectly acceptable practice. It is, they say, a legitimate “alternative lifestyle.” The Bible, of course, says otherwise (see the article in this volume by Terry Wilder explaining the biblical view of homosexuality). According to the Apostle Paul, homosexuality is the behavior of those who have “abandoned natural relations”; who have “exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones” (Rom 1:26, 27).That Scripture speaks to this matter ought to be enough, especially for those who accept the authority of the Bible. Unfortunately, not everyone bows to biblical authority. Does this mean, then, that we must remain at a perpetual impasse with those who disagree on the morality of homosexual behavior? I don’t think so. I will argue in this article that we can establish the immorality of homosexuality from a purely philosophical perspective. I will offer, that is, an argument from natural law which echoes Paul’s language in Romans 1 to the effect that homosexuality is an abandonment of the natural, created order, and for that reason is immoral. But first, I will briefly examine the evidence that homosexuality advocates have advanced in their attempt to show that homosexuality is not contrary to nature, but is in fact natural.The Alleged Case for the Naturalness of HomosexualityThe basic claim made by those who defend the morality of homosexuality is that homosexuals “are born that way.” Homosexuality is alleged to have some genetic basis, and some scientific research has been conducted to try to establish the genetic link.^[1]^ Thus Michael Bailey and Richard Pillard assert, “Our own research has shown that male sexual orientation is substantially genetic.”^[2]^Space does not permit a detailed response to these studies. Suffice it to say for now that the research alleging to show a genetic basis for homosexuality is far from conclusive.^[3]^ The conclusions and even methods of these studies have been hotly contested, leading Columbia University psychiatrists Byne and Parsons to conclude:There is no evidence at present to substantiate a biological theory, just as there is no compelling evidence to support any singular psychosocial explanation. . . .[T]he appeal of current biological explanations may derive more from dissatisfaction with the present status of psychosocial explanations than from a substantiating body of experimental data. Critical review shows the evidence favoring a biological theory to be lacking.^[4]^So we have no good reason, at least for now, to believe that there is any genetic or biological link to homosexual behavior. Yet it must be added that even if such a link were established, it would not morally justify homosexuality for two reasons. First, pinpointing a correlation between homosexuality and some biological factor does not by itself tell us which way the causal relationship runs. Is the biological condition correlated with homosexuality the cause of the homosexual orientation, or is the biological condition caused by the homosexual orientation?Second, even if one’s genetic makeup does cause or predispose one toward homosexuality, this again does not make such behavior good or morally permissible. Some people reason like this:​(1) Homosexuals’ genetic makeup predisposes (or causes) them to engage in homosexual behavior.

​(2) Therefore, homosexual behavior is morally permissible.However, we do not make this genetic-so-it-must-be-okay leap in other areas of life. For example, researchers believe that there is a definite genetic basis for alcoholism. Yet, we do not think that alcoholism is good, or that it is morally permissible for alcoholics to persist in drunkenness. We believe that alcoholism is bad and that alcoholics should be “cured.” So, supposing for the sake of argument that homosexuality is genetically based, why shouldn’t we seek to “cure” homosexuals rather than endorse their behavior? Why shouldn’t we look for ways to eradicate the harmful homosexual gene? Gay activists beg the question concerning the morality of homosexual behavior when they assume that a genetic basis for the behavior automatically establishes its moral permissibility.It is interesting to note, in this connection, that recent research has in fact shown that homosexuality is curable. Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, psychiatry professor at Columbia University, has concluded research which shows that “a percentage of highly motivated gay people can change their sexual orientation.”^[5]^ The study followed the lives of 200 gay persons who underwent therapy to change their sexual orientation. Spitzer’s study found that 66 percent of men and 44 percent of women were able to achieve “good heterosexual functioning” as a result of the therapy. And it is helpful to note that Dr. Spitzer does not have an anti-gay ax to grind. He is not a Christian and has no sympathy for the efforts of Christians to defend the biblical view of homosexuality. In fact, he was the leader of the 1973 campaign to remove homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental disorders. This study provides powerful evidence for the biblical view that homosexuality is a learned behavior.^[6]^I conclude, therefore, that there is no good evidence that homosexuality is biologically based. That is, there is no good evidence that homosexuality is “natural” in the sense that those who practice this behavior are genetically predisposed to it.But might homosexuality be natural in some other sense? After all, we can observe homosexual behavior in other animals. For example, chimpanzees and other apes are known to engage in homosexual behavior. So, it might be said, homosexuality occurs in nature. It is natural in the sense that we find examples of it in the natural world. So, shouldn’t we expect and permit such behavior among humans? The argument goes something like this:

The problem with this argument is that premise (2) is so obviously false. There are lots of behaviors that animals engage in that we do not think are permissible for human beings. For example, many animals eat their young as soon as they are born. Though this may be “natural” for the creatures in question, it is clearly not morally permissible for humans to eat their young. Again, Black Widow spiders kill and devour their mates after mating, but I seriously doubt that any female human could use the “It’s natural” defense in court were she to kill and eat her husband.Premise (2), if it were true, would imply that there is no moral difference between animals and human beings. Now some committed atheists and evolutionists might believe that this is so, but most of us would not be willing to follow their lead. What is permissible for animals is not always permissible for people. So, just because some animals engage in homosexual behavior, this lends no support to the thesis that human homosexuality is either natural (in any relevant sense) or morally good.We must also qualify premise (1) of this argument. It is true that homosexual behavior occurs in nature—among apes, for example. But, even in the animal kingdom there is a clear abnormality with regard to homosexuality. Thomas Schmidt explains thatanimals do not engage in long-term homosexual bonding as humans do. Some monkeys and apes mount or fondle each other to the point of sexual arousal, but even this behavior involves numerous qualifications: most important, the behavior does not continue when the individual matures and has a heterosexual option.^[7]^So just because homosexual behavior occurs in nature, this does not mean that this is the norm in nature. Nor does it mean that these occasional occurrences of homosexual behavior among animals make it natural for humans in the sense of morally permissible or morally normative.The Case Against HomosexualityI turn now to argue that homosexual behavior is immoral. The reason it is immoral is that it is clearly unnatural. Here I am using the terms “natural” and “unnatural” in a specific way. By saying that homosexuality is unnatural, I mean that it is contrary to the purpose and design of God, our creator. And I mean to argue that we can know this even apart from what the Bible says about it.^[8]^ My argument can be stated as follows:

Whatever behavior is contrary to God’s created design for human beings is morally wrong.

Homosexuality is contrary to God’s created design for human beings.

Therefore, homosexuality is wrong.

Now what can be said in defense of the premises of this argument? Let’s take a look at premise (1) first. This premise, of course, assumes that God exists. Some people on the pro-homosexual side of this debate will cry, “Foul!—You can’t bring religion into this debate! You can’t bring your Bible verses into the public arena to decide this issue!” First of all, take careful note that my argument does not quote any Bible verses, nor will I do so in defense of premise (1).And it is not my intent to bring religion per se into the debate at this point. I am merely appealing to the fact that most people in our society believe, or at least say they believe, in the existence of God. To be sure, there are those who claim that they do not believe in God. I think they are profoundly mistaken. I think the evidence for God’s existence is overwhelming and that those who attempt to dismiss his existence are “without excuse” as Romans 1:20 states.^[9]^ But we can save that debate for another time. Most of us—even those who are not particularly Christian, even those who do not believe in the divine authority of the Bible—nevertheless believe that the universe was created by a personal, all-powerful, all-knowing, and supremely good God. More specifically, we believe that we were created by God. And we believe that God gave us all of our faculties and abilities, physical and mental, for a benevolent purpose.It follows from this that if I use the abilities and faculties that God gave me in a way that is contrary to his good intentions, then I have done something wrong. For example, if I use the hands that God gave me for serving him and other people to strangle and kill my brother instead, then I have done wrong. So premise (1) of my argument is true: any behavior that is contrary to God’s created design for human beings is morally unacceptable.Now we come to the crucial question. Is homosexual behavior consistent with God’s created design for human beings? Or does it run contrary to his design? In premise (2) I have stated what I take to be the right answer to this question. Homosexual behavior is clearly contrary to God’s design.We believe that God created us male and female. We believe, that is, that hetero-sexuality is God’s intent. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have created two sexes! And let us simply examine the biology of it all. Who can reasonably deny that penises are designed to fit into vaginas? And who can deny that vaginas are meant to receive penises? And I am not using these biological statements to refer to reproduction. Homosexuality advocates often remind us that sexual activity is not only meant for the purpose of reproduction. It is also intended for pleasure and for emotional bonding. I agree whole-heartedly! But this does not justify homosexuality.If you grant that there is a natural “fit” between penises and vaginas that is created by God (and this cannot be denied), then it is easy to see that God intends for sexual activity to bring men and women together, for the purpose of reproduction to be sure, but also for the purpose of creating a special union through the pleasure and emotional bonding that takes place in sexual intercourse.And there are other things about men and women that tell us that this is God’s design. It may not be politically correct to say this nowadays, but men and women need each other. Because they bear and nurse children, and because they are the “weaker vessel,” women need the strength and bread-winning abilities that men are naturally disposed to provide. And men need the nurturing and care that women are naturally disposed to provide.^[10]^ But, homosexuality undermines the God-designed interdependence of men and women.Imagine, for the sake of argument that all human beings opted for homosexuality. If homosexual behavior is morally permissible, then it would be morally permissible for everyone to be homosexual. But, then, God’s clear intent for men and women to enter into intimate unions through sexual intercourse would be thwarted. God’s intent that men and women cleave together in mutually dependent relationships would be thwarted as well. And, by the way, so would God’s intent that humans reproduce.So, I conclude that homosexual behavior is clearly inconsistent with God’s created purpose for human beings. Therefore, it follows that homosexual behavior is wrong.Steven B. Cowan is Associate Director of the Apologetics Resource Center.This article is in the Areopagus Journal Calling Evil Good Volume 1 Number 4

THE EU is "thick with institutional corruption” and, over the years, MEPs have been quietly cashing in thousands of pounds a year in expenses without showing any receipts, Nigel Farage claimed in a throwback documentary.

By MARTINA BET | Express.co.ukOn Thursday, Prime Minister Theresa May met with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and the President of the European Council Donald Tusk in an effort to break the Brexit deadlock. As the Prime Minister arrived in Brussels, she was heckled by a journalist who asked if she was in “hell”. The quip came after President of the European Council Donald Tusk sparked outrage after he delivered a brutal message to politicians in the UK who had promoted Britain’s departure from the EU.On Wednesday, Mr Tusk said: “I've been wondering what that special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely.”Among the EU chief's most brutal critiques, radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer labelled Mr Tusk an “overpaid egomaniac” and attacked him for insulting those who pay for his “huge salary, huge pension and huge perks”.Over the years, Brussels and its politicians have often been criticised for their "exorbitant" salaries, expenses and lack of transparency.In 2003 documentary "The Real Face of the European Union", former Ukip leader Nigel Farage attacked the bloc for its "fraudulent system", its corruption and MEPs' travel expenses.Mr Farage said: "This place is thick with institutional corruption.​“The system is fraudulent. It is rotten to the core”Nigel Farage"You can now buy a cheap airline ticket to come to Strasbourg for about £45 return."When you get here, you are reimbursed nearly £800 for the cost of that flight."Now, this has been going on for the last 20 years and, of course, what has happened that MEPs haven’t been talking about it?"The system is fraudulent. It is rotten to the core."In the same documentary, political activist Norris McWhirter also hit out at the EU, claiming that "accounts haven't been signed off for the last eight years".In September 2018, an EU court rejected calls for greater transparency about MEPs’ expenses and upheld the decision that politicians are not required to reveal how they spend public money.The court claimed that publishing spending records "would undermine MEPs' privacy".The court case was centred on the €4,416 (£3,870) monthly “general expenditure allowance” awarded to MEPs to fund their constituency offices.MEPs are also currently refunded first-class travel expenses and get a €313 (£274) daily allowance for hotel and living costs when working in Brussels and Strasbourg.

Late on January 22, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) repelled a major attack by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) in the Idlib de-escalation zone.According to the Russian military, about 150-200 militants supported by 15-20 vehicles equipped with machine guns attacked SAA positions in the areas of Abu al-Duhur and Abu Sharja. They also employed at least one suicide vehicle borne explosive device. The militants overran the first line of defense and penetrated about 1.5-2 km deep into the SAA-controlled area.Then, the military deployed reinforcements and with support of artillery units SAA troops repelled the advance and forced militants to withdraw from the recently captured positions.According to pro-SAA sources, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham members suffered significant casualties.12 service members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in the January 20th Israeli airstrikes on Damascus’s International Airport, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on January 22. The SOHR claimed that the total death toll is 21 people: 6 Syrian Army troops, 12 IRGC service members and 3 other non-Syrian nationals.On January 22, Syria’s envoy to the United Nations warned that if the UN Security Council did not put a stop to Israeli strikes on his country, Syria would retaliate on its own.“Syria would practice its legitimate right of self-defense and respond to the Israeli aggression on Damascus International Airport in the same way on Tel Aviv airport,” Bashar Jaafari said.The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that the strikes were aimed at Iranian targets in the country. According to the very same version, IDF aircraft attacked Syrian military positions because they were responding ‘violently’ to Israeli strikes on Iranian forces. It should be noted that the SOHR claims contradict with the data provided by the Russian Defense Ministry. It said that 4 Syrian service members were killed in the attack.The Russia-delivered S-300 system was not employed by the Syrian military during the encounter. According to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, the reason is that Syrian S-300 crews are still not ready to operate the S-300 air defense system themselves. According to the report, the S-300 crews have not passed firing exams yet. The newspaper speculated that the crews would not be ready earlier than March 2019. Then, one battalion of the S-300 air defense system will reportedly be deployed in the T4 airbase area.Citing its own sources, Kommersant stated that Russia is not going to change its current attitude towards Israeli strikes on Syria as long as Russian personnel are not near the targets being hit.

January 5, 2019Gandhi Used His Position To Sexually Exploit Young Women. The Way WE React To This Matters Even Today

Note: This letter is an excerpt from a collection of Gandhi’s letters which have been compiled into a book titled “Mahatma Gandhi’s Letters on Brahmacharya, Sexuality and Love” by Girja Kumar (Vitasta Publishing, 2011). More detailed citations and references on the chapter on Gandhi in Rita Banerji’s book “Sex and Power: Defining History, Shaping Societies,” [pages 265-281, Penguin Books, 2009].It is a fact. Gandhi had young women in his ashram, some of them still teenagers, one of them his own grand-niece (Manu Gandhi), sleep naked with him in his bed at night. This was an aspect of Gandhi that I had not read about before, and it surprised me at first. I was researching for my book “Sex and Power” which looks at the history of sex and sexuality in India, and it was important for me to investigate this further.My initial tendency was to regard this as ‘gossip’ but then some of the biographies confirmed it as fact, but also hurriedly dismissed it as something that we all apparently should accept as the eccentricities of ‘great‘ men! That’s not a logical argument for me and so I began to dig into archives for more information till a complete picture emerged. And that picture upset me. I saw Gandhi as a classic example of a sexual predator — a man who uses his position of power to manipulate and sexually exploit the people he directly controls.Most angering for me, was reading about the psychological and emotional trauma of the girls and women who he used for his ‘experiments’, which is what he called these incidents. The word ‘psychotic’ repeatedly came up in various documents with regards to these women’s mental state. The women, most of whom were in their late teens or early twenties (not surprisingly, given he could have ‘experimented’ with the older women or even his own wife!) were repeatedly described as depressed and weeping, and seemed to be completely in his control. Besides this, some of the archival references lead me to believe that Gandhi may well have been practicing the traditional, historic form of Indian celibacy which hinges on one thing only — and that is control of ejaculation. Everything else is permitted.What I could not understand is why school texts and biographies have selectively edited out this information because it was a big and explosive aspect of the inner dynamics of the Gandhi ashram and its inmates for the last 10 years of Gandhi’s life. It eventually led to the partial break-up of his inner-core circle.But Gandhi is long dead. So why should the naked girls in Gandhi’s bed matter today?Well, because the issue goes way beyond Gandhi. What really matters now, and it matters deeply, is how we respond to what Gandhi did.Today we like to believe that we are far more progressive in terms of recognising and condemning the abuse of power by men for sexual exploitation and abuse. And yet, I repeatedly find every time I bring this up (for eg. in this article Gandhi to Asharam: Who Empowers the Sex-Crimes of Gurus?) most people’s responses are defensive and regressive!But this is what surprised me the most! Compared to our reactions and responses today, the people in Gandhi’s time seemed to be far more progressive! They not only recognised that he was abusing his position and power in a way that was unethical and depraved, but they outright condemned it, confronted it, and eventually forced him to stop.On March 16, 1947, Nirmal Kumar Bose, one of Gandhi’s closest associates wrote a letter to Kishorlal G. Mashruwala, another of Gandhi’s close colleagues, saying, “When I first learnt about Gandhi’s experiment in which a girl took off her clothes and lay under the same cover with him and he tried to find out if any sexual feeling was evoked in him or his companion, I felt genuinely surprised. Personally, I would not tempt myself like that and more than that, my respect for [women] would prevent me from treating her as an instrument in my experiment.”N.K. Bose’s letter was only one of the many exchanges among Gandhi’s closest associates and friends in the first half of 1947, about this practice of his, that angered and upset many. These included prominent leaders of India’s freedom movement such as Vallabhai Patel, J. B. Kriplani and Vinobha Bhave. Many of them confronted Gandhi directly, and others stopped associating with him.This 1947 storm in the Gandhi camp was set off by R. P. Parasuram, a young man from Kerala, who for two years had served as Gandhi’s personal secretary and typist and watched his personal affairs from close by. Like many students in India at that time, Parasuram too, had idolised Gandhi and after his studies, had travelled to Gandhi’s ashram to live and work with him, and help with India’s freedom movement.But two years after working with Gandhi, Parasuram quit the ashram and his job. Before he left, he wrote a 16-page long letter explaining his distress at what he had witnessed in Gandhi’s behaviour with girls and women in the ashram — which included other things besides his ‘experiments‘ in bed. He said that as much as he had worshipped Gandhi, his conscience did not allow him to stay silent any longer. And that in order for him to continue, Gandhi had to concede to five of his demands (all of which dealt with Gandhi’s physical interactions with girls at the ashram) which he listed in the letter. [See the letter below.]On January 2, 1947, Gandhi responded to Parasuram’s letter with, “I cannot concede your demands. Since such is my opinion and there is a conflict of ideals, you are at liberty to leave me today.”Parasuram did leave as did some of Gandhi’s other close associates. But others, especially those who were in more senior positions as friends and associates, continued their pressure on Gandhi to stop.One of the things that was a big issue was Gandhi’s hypocrisy and manipulation, to what seemed to many, to serve his own ends. Gandhi had made an unwritten rule of celibacy for all the inhabitants of his ashram. Oddly, he would even make married couples take this vow because he believed that this was central to his philosophy of non-violence. Sexual stimulation of any sort, he preached, evoked violence in one’s thoughts and behaviour. He would tell them that even touching each other was unacceptable. He made the life of one of his own sons, whose wife got pregnant, absolutely hell, angry that they had had sex when he had forbidden them to! Yet he was free to do as he pleased. He was so confident that he wouldn’t be challenged.Swami Anand and Kedarnath in a question and answer grilling from March 15-16, 1947, shot off questions like, “Why did you not take your coworkers into confidence and carry them with you [into] this novel practice?” and “Why do we find so much disquiet and unhappiness around you? Why are your companions emotionally unhinged?”The Congress President J. B. Kriplani told him that he was simply, “exploiting human beings as means rather than as ends in themselves.”N.K. Bose suggested this course of action for Gandhi: “… he should not allow Manu [Gandhi’s great-niece] to sleep in the same bed with him until he had tried enough to educate the public into his new way of thinking, or the public had got all the fact[s] about him and clearly expressed its disapproval. Then he [can go] back to his practice with the full brunt of his suffering for the opinion which he held right.”Vallabhai Patel told Gandhi off to his face. He said what he was doing was ‘adharma’ (immoral). In a classic, egotistical way Gandhi retorted to Patel by telling Balkrishna Bhave “for me Manu sleeping with me is a matter of dharma (moral duty).”But under this onslaught, Gandhi eventually conceded defeat, even if not willingly. He said he felt like a “broken reed.” His ego and narcissism had been broken by people around him who fortunately understood and did better than we do today.This is the question that I’d like to ask everyone reading this: Why is it that it’s hard to say that Gandhi, the hero of India’s freedom movement had also used his power and position to sexually exploit/abuse girls and women who came under the mantle of his leadership?Below is an extract from R. P. Parasuram’s 16-page letter to Gandhi just before he quit. He called it his letter of “indictment.”_____________________________________________________________________________________1 January, 1947SrirampurRevered Bapu,I write these lines in sorrow and pain. You know how shy and unforward I have been these two years. You must imagine to what depths I must have been agitated then to overcome my shyness and become bold and that too with a man who is considered by many to be the greatest man living.You must also ponder over the fact as to what it is that has made me bold and say things so boldly. It is because I feel I am so clearly in the right and you so clearly in the wrong. It is the cause that gives me the courage.It is not that I did not know these before. I knew and kept quiet. I thought, “Why should I bring these to him?” There are men like Kanu [Gandhi], Kishorilal bhai [Mashruwala], etc., experienced men and men knowing you fully. And then I had not the courage. I have come over my shyness with you.When [at] first I came to the ashram, I came with high respect for the ashram and its inmates and its way of life. All that was knocked off in 24 hours. After coming here I must confess to having lost a portion of the respect I had for you. You are the Father of our Nation. You have taken us so far along the path of freedom and independence. You must see the hand of God in the fact that I have overcome my shyness.I object to your sleeping in the same bed with members of the opposite sex. In February 1945 or so, I was given the draft of a statement to type. I was shocked by the contents…I must tell you that even before I know of this. One day Amin-bhai came and told me that he was shocked to see Manu [Manu Gandhi — Gandhi’s own grand niece] getting into your bed.In those days I was more shy than I am now. My only friend in the ashram was Amin. Even then I came to know of the discussions about this affair because the ashram people are so careless and can’t keep their mouth shut. Everybody objected to your doing this.Apart from the question of any affect on you, what about the effect on girls?There is something of other wrong with them [the women who sleep naked with Gandhi]. [The] Punjabi girl who lived opposite my room in Matunga. She used to weep unrestrainedly and that not caring whether others saw her or not. She laughed also unrestrainedly. And then here is Dr. Sushila-behn [the 24-year-old in-house physician at the ashram who Gandhi also used for his ‘experiments’]. How many are the days when she has not wept? She is a doctor and yet she is always a patient, always is ill. Who has heard of a doctor who cries out at night?Even then the whole thing is considered wrong by the world. I do not like it. Nirmal babu [Bose] does not. Sucheta-behn [Kriplani] did not like it and said, “However great he may be, he cannot do such things. What is this?” You must admit that there is something in our objection. You cannot waive it aside.As for blood relations [this is in reference to Manu Gandhi]. The world is sceptic even there. There have been cases of immorality between father and daughter, brother and sister.I object to your having massage done by girls. When I was studying in college, I read a report saying you were being massaged by Dr. Sushila-behn. And now I find you do get yourself massaged by girls.Those people who know that you are naked during massage time say that you could at least put a cover over it [his genitals].The same objection I hold against girls coming to the bathroom when you go there. Ramachandran saw you like that and said you had fallen a little from his estimation. However great you may be, you cannot do these things.Your placing your hands on shoulders of girls. You had written once that you gave up this practice because others intimated you with evil intention. I have not come across any other writing saying you could resume it. So it was strange to me why you resumed it. During the two years I have been with you, about 50 letters or so objecting to this practice from admirers and calumniators came. None of them got any reply.Your being seen naked [during his bath and massage] jars on the mind of strangers, admirers though they might be. Ramachandran did not like it. He said it was the limit.Ever since the 17th December [1946], when in the small hours of the morning you made those dreadful sounds, dreadful because it came from you man of such eminence, even otherwise unbecoming for any wise or old man, my head has not been at peace. I have heard of another such instance from Mr. Ramachandran of the API [Associated Press of India] when you told Sushila-behn to leave you. I have seen such another instance at Delhi. But this event shook me to my depths. I said to myself that God and the nation would not forgive me if I kept quiet.You commit Himalyan blunders. But you refuse to see these things and when told, you are irritated. I say you are conceited and constitute yourself to be the repository of all the wisdom in the world.And now to my charges. Unless [my demands] are fulfilled, I [will] depart. I beg to differ and go away. Your actions to which I object:1. Your sleeping with any member of the opposite sex.2. Being massaged by any member of the opposite sex.3. Allowing yourself to be seen naked by any member of the opposite sex.4. Allowing yourself to be seen naked by strangers and even by people who are of your party who are not so intimate.5. Placing your hands on the shoulders of girls when walking.

By MARTINA BET | Express.co.ukThe official, who is currently drawing up contingency plans and has worked on Brexit for the past two-and-a-half years, suggested that the UK Government’s approach for a ’no-deal’ scenario are part of “Project Fear Mark III”. He quashed concerns that a no-deal Brexit will lead to economic “armageddon” and Britain to “crash out”, describing these claims as “absolutely untrue”. Writing anonymously in the Daily Telegraph, the civil servant said: "If the Government was to be frank with Parliament and the country, what justification would be left for its disastrous Withdrawal Agreement?"What would Remainers do without a Project Fear?“They would need to think up convincing positive arguments for staying in the EU, something that has so far proved beyond them."The official added that ministers are trying to “scare” people into accepting the “outrageous” terms of the EU, falsely claiming the UK is "not prepared for a no deal and it would be a disaster".The civil servant explained: "Every day there is some fresh claim in the press – backed up by people who should (and perhaps really do) know better – that we must accept whatever outrageous terms we are offered by an intransigent EU because we are not prepared for no deal and it would be a disaster."If true, it would be a terrible indictment not only of this government but also of our civil service.“And it is absolutely untrue, as anyone who, like me, has been involved in Brexit work for the past two-and-a-half years in Whitehall will tell you."The official also noted that the civil service would never allow the British public "to be threatened by economic paralysis".He continued: "That very bias towards certainty and balance and horror of disorder makes civil servants highly conscious of their duty to keep both their school run and the country operating smoothly."They would not sit back and allow the British public to be threatened by economic paralysis."Nor have they."So of course no-deal preparations have been made.“To claim otherwise is to equate the United Kingdom with a tinpot dictatorship where officials tote machine guns and use pot plants for target practice."And we would never allow that."Parliament is expected to vote on Theresa May's proposed withdrawal deal next month.The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29 next year.The agreement negotiated by Theresa May with the EU - which sets the terms of the UK's exit and a declaration on future relations - will only come into force if MPs approve it.Last week, the Prime Minister's allies said they are "confident" she can win January's Brexit vote and swing the Commons in her favour, claiming a no deal scenario has terrified MPs.

Mount Zion, a site of great importance to the Jewish people, is almost entirely owned by the Vatican. It happens to also be a focal point of a political battle being fought, oddly enough, underground.

Harry Moskoff is an executive producer and writer of The A.R.K. Report, an account of his research into the location of the lost Ark of the Covenant. Moskoff is a devout Jew who uses archaeology to investigate his Biblical theories and is preparing to film a documentary that will investigate what lies below some of Jerusalem’s holiest sites.

One segment of his documentary will focus on Mount Zion specifically, located directly west of the Old City outside of the ancient walls. Moskoff notes that when the Bible refers to Mount Zion, it is actually using one of the names for the Temple Mount, which is also known as Mount Moriah. In that regard, he will investigate a theory of his that King David moved from his palace in the City of David, located on the southern slopes of the Temple Mount, to Mount Zion in the latter parts of his life. While some archaeologists believe that King David is buried near the City of David, Moskoff contends that his tomb is in fact located on Mount Zion.When he launched his investigation, Moskoff was shocked to find resistance from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that tried to prevent him from accessing the site.

“I was naive but I was immediately made aware of a political battle being fought in the guise of archaeology,” Moskoff told Breaking Israel News. “These groups wield a lot of power. They are working to prevent me from going into the tunnels under Mount Zion. “Their method is very simple: they take us to court and claim we are harming the Palestinian rights,” he continued.

One such NGO is Emek Shaveh, an Israeli organization describing itself as comprising archaeologists and community activists who are focused on the role that archaeology plays in Israeli society and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The NGO claims that the Israeli government’s archaeological activity on the Temple Mount and Mount Zion are unscientific and only intended to undermine Palestinian rights in those areas.Emek Shaveh’s description of itself gives off the appearance that it acts primarily out of humanitarian concerns. However, according to NGO Monitor, a watchdog organization that investigates the activities of anti-Israel NGOs, Emek Shaveh receives its funding from the European Union, as well as from individual European governments and anti-Israel organizations like the New Israel Fund.“These NGO’s are trying to discredit the Biblical basis of the archaeology in Israel,” Moskoff said. “This is a political battle being fought on the battlefield of archaeology, but the archaeological sites are also the Biblical sites. They are hijacking the science of archaeology for what is really a religious battle.”

Eli Dan, who served as assistant director of the Diaspora Yeshiva, a Torah institution on Mount Zion, which was charged with running the compound of King David’s Tomb after the Six-Day War in 1967, has witnessed what he describes as a “long and complicated war” with the Vatican.“The Vatican fought for years to gain control of Mount Zion,” Dan told Breaking Israel News. “Their main interest lies in the room where the Christians believe the Last Supper was held.”

“The previous Pope promoted a political agenda that advanced the Palestinian cause because he wanted to gain control of the site,” he elaborated. “But that room is in a building adjacent to the Tomb of King David.”

Dan explained that King Solomon, King Hezekiah, and several high priests are also believed to be buried at the site.

“The battle going on now for Mount Zion goes much deeper,” Dan added. “The battle is for the identity of the site: whether it is a Jewish religious site, a Catholic site, or whether it is simply a tourist attraction with no religious significance.” “The Palestinians have no say here and don’t have any cultural or religious connection to the site,” he continued. “Their influence has all but disappeared, but the NGO’s still cause trouble, speaking very loudly in their name.”

Moskoff does not believe the battle has been won yet for Israel and the Jewish people. “People have to know about this, that these groups will do whatever it takes to keep us out of there,” Moskoff said. “If we don’t act, they will take away our rights to every one of our holy sites.”

And so, the long-awaited, long-postponed, moment of reckoning is finally at hand. Like Iain Duncan Smith in 2003, Theresa May faces a vote of no confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party. This time rather more is at stake: if she loses the vote (as her ill-starred predecessor did 15 years ago) she will also be expelled from Number 10.

In her statement today in Downing Street, May presented the vote and the prospect of a leadership contest if she loses as a fatal distraction from the Brexit process and a gift to Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn. She had, she said, “devoted myself unsparingly” to the responsibilities of her role and had no intention of yielding now.The announcement by Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, that the threshold of 48 MPs’ names had finally been passed (after several false starts) and that a vote would now go ahead has naturally triggered speculation about what happens if she loses and who is her most likely successor. But let us take advantage of this moment of electrified stillness to ask a different question. Namely, why is she still in post at all?As the Prime Minister’s circumstances have slid from the merely disastrous to the utterly calamitous, it has become commonplace, not to say clichéd, to express admiration for her flinty resolve. We are routinely invited — notwithstanding the fact that her Government is zombified, her party disintegrating and the country heading towards a constitutional and commercial cliff-edge — to salute her determination, her grit, her capacity to soar above the chaos with Zen serenity.In truth, there has been nothing admirable about May’s conduct. What her cheerleaders hail as tenacity and public-spirited doggedness is something quite different and very far from laudable.Though she triggers a form of bogus nostalgia for old-fashioned British backbone, the PM actually incarnates an ultra-modern indifference to convention and an imperviousness to the normal pressures of embarrassment. As one of her senior colleagues told me recently, “She just doesn’t obey Marquess of Queensberry rules.”This is absolutely right. After a profoundly humiliating snap general election, in which she contrived to squander her party’s Commons majority, she emerged from the rubble, dusted herself down and carried on as if nothing much had happened. As minister after minister has resigned — notably in protest at the Brexit negotiations — she has made a virtue of her public indifference, eschewing reflection let alone humility. This week, she postponed a historic Commons vote on Britain’s future relationship with the EU in the manner of someone mildly irritated at having to rearrange a dinner party. Her champions (and there are still a few out there) celebrate this as Thatcheresque fortitude. But they are mistaken. They see an awe-inspiring Sphinx but what really stands at the Despatch Box is an immobilised speak-your-weight machine.Consider any other prime minister of the past 40 years. David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, John Major, Thatcher herself …. any of these would have been long gone by now, driven from office by a sense of honour, obsolescence, powerlessness, or all three. May only looks buttoned-up and politically strait-laced. In fact, she is a quiet anarchist, utterly unconstrained by the normal behavioural codes of office. It has taken the last resort of an internal party confidence vote to put her in a dock of accountability (albeit a dock in which she faces only a tribal jury of Conservative MPs)."She has ignored every signal and every hint dropped by history that her time is up and she should call an Uber" In Downing Street today, May said “the Conservatives must not be a single-issue party”. This was rich coming from a single-issue PM. Since 2016, her premiership has been absolutely defined by one objective: the delivery of Brexit. All prime ministers have priorities, some of which they nurture before taking office, while others are forced upon them by the cruel hand of fate. In May’s case, however, the arrangement of Britain’s departure from the EU has been elevated from priority to raison d’être. Like the original Terminator hunting down Sarah Connor, she has had only goal. It is in this spirit, and this spirit alone, that she has approached the highest office in the land. Everything has been subordinated to the single task of implementing the 2016 referendum result on March 29. In pursuit of this increasingly intractable project, she has ignored every signal sent by the political marketplace, every collective judgment, every hint dropped by history that her time is up and she should really call an Uber. Even as the letters of no confidence accumulated in Sir Graham’s inbox, she ignored the ignominy, playing it long as Tory MPs have squabbled over the viability of her successor — whoever he or she is — doing any better. She has been more than willing to play chicken with MPs over her unsellable deal, daring them to resist her until January 21 (little more than two months from the date of Brexit itself).She fears a People’s Vote — or “no Brexit”, as she calls it — above all else. As evidence mounts daily of the true character of a no-deal exit — of the deplorable, avoidable mutilation of national life that such an outcome would represent — you might think that her judgment has been skewed. But that is scarcely the point. In her statement today, May referred to the excellent speech she gave on her arrival in Downing Street two and a half years ago that referred to the “burning injustices” faced by so many Britons. But she has conspicuously ignored that challenge in the intervening months, focusing to the exclusion of all else upon a deal which pleases nobody —even, in moments of private candour, herself. For that fixation, and the wilful narrowness of vision it spawned, she must now face the consequences.

Speaking at a Labour conference fringe meeting in 2007, the veteran left-winger made an inflamed plea to Gordon Brown to give the British people a referendum on the EU Lisbon treaty. The plea swiftly turned into a scathing attack on the bloc and the former Labour MP passionately argued for the UK's withdrawal from the EU. 11 years later, Theresa May is facing rebellion over her Brexit deal as many argue the views of the 52% who historically voted to leave the European Union in June 2016 are being betrayed with a soft exit.It appears that Mr Benn was all too aware of the EU's failings and somewhat foresaw Brexit.In his speech, the Labour MP highlighted an alleged democratic deficit in the institution while recalling his time spent with the Council of Ministers.He said: “I was on the Council of Ministers and that was the most shattering experience of my life.“I was a representative of Britain and for six months I was the President of the Council of Energy Ministers. “I wasn’t allowed to submit a document.“Only the Commission, for bureaucrats, could submit a document.“I could say yes or no, [it was] sort of constitutional monarchy if you like.“They met in secret and made laws for Britain. “When I suggested we met in public they nearly strangled me because all their dirty little deals would have come out.”Mr Benn, who campaigned in favour of a referendum on the UK's membership for most of his life, also claimed in his 2007 speech that the block was the "most bureaucratic, terrifying system in the world”.He argued it was being imposed on British people “on the grounds its tidying-up".He added: ”If tidying up involves tearing up the British constitution, it's a very interesting definition.”

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron refused to offer Theresa May a helping hand to guide her controversial Brexit deal through the UK parliament after it was rubber-stamped by European Union leaders in Brussels.

The influential leader delivered a blow to the Prime Minister as he boasted his demands for guaranteed access to UK fishing waters as part of any future trade deal is now supported by the entire EU27. Mrs May already faces stiff opposition from Conservative Brexiteers, including her 13 MPs in Scotland, to deliver any deal that allows room for bargaining over Britain’s territorial fishing waters. And now the French President outlined European plans that would see Britain forced into the backstop unless Mrs May concedes access to the UK’s fishing waters in the future deal.Speaking after the withdrawal agreement and political declaration on the future UK-EU relationship was agreed by leaders, Mr Macron said: “An agreement assumes that each side promotes its position.“We as 27 have a clear position on fair competition, on fish, on the subject of the EU’s regulatory autonomy, and that forms part of our lines for the future relationship talks, which is a lever, because it is in our mutual interest to have this future relationship.“I can’t imagine that the desire of Theresa May or her supporters is to remain for the long term in a customs union, but to define a proper future relationship which resolves this problem.”The French President added: “I don’t want to interfere on the decision in parliament.”German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the talks on fisheries are “undoubtedly going to be an area where negotiations are going to be tough”.Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said: “The general issue of fishing will be an important subject over the next 18 months.“We hope by the summer of 2020 to conclude on fisheries the exact nest stage.“France, the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark, we have a big interest here but also so does the UK to maintain market access to the EU for products coming out of UK waters. “There’s a common necessity to come to a conclusion.”Mrs May and EU, this morning, signed off on Britain’s divorce package, which leaders have said is the “best” possible outcome.Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said: “I believe today it is important to take today’s step and then to also support May afterwards that she will get a majority for this deal.“It is important that everybody in Great Britain is aware that the present deal is also the final deal, there is no renegotiations and there is no more leeway.”European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: “I would vote in favour of this deal because this is the best deal possible for Britain.”The Prime Minister said she is not sad to be leaving the EU and that the British public are growing tired of Brexit in her own message to rebellious MPs.She said: “The British people don't want to spend any more time arguing about Brexit. They want a good deal done that fulfils the vote and allows us to come together again as a country.” “So I will take this deal back to the House of Commons confident we have achieved the best deal available and full of optimism about the future of our country. In Parliament and beyond it, I will make the case for this deal with all my heart and I look forward to that campaign.”

Sir Keir Starmer was speaking to members of Labour’s parliamentary party on Monday night.Labour will consider calling for a vote of no confidence in Theresa May’s government if her Brexit deal is voted down and it appears the UK is at risk of crashing out of the EU without a deal, the party’s Brexit spokesman has said.Sir Keir Starmer told members of Labour’s parliamentary party on Monday night he was confident parliament would be able to prevent a no-deal scenario, and if necessary the opposition would stage a vote to call for an early election.“It would be politically unsustainable for any government to deliver a no deal without the consent of parliament,” Starmer told MPs. “There will be opportunities to make the majority against no deal heard. Motions will be tabled, amendments will be pressed and a no-confidence vote can be triggered.”A vote of no confidence requires a simple majority of the Commons to pass, although under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, a 14-day period is allowed for a new government to be formed with the approval of MPs.Labour believes a majority of MPs would not support a no deal, and that any rejection of May’s final deal by a combination of angry hard Brexiters and opposition parties would lead to chaotic and unstable situation.In theory, if May’s deal were to be rejected, the UK would head out of the EU on World Trade Organization terms, after MPs voted in principle to quit when the European Union Withdrawal Act was passed.But the party believes ministers would have to prepare emergency legislation in dozens of areas before the end of March, giving MPs a chance to block an immediate exit. “If Theresa May’s deal fails to command the support of parliament, then we will not stand back and allow her to take this country off a cliff,” Starmer said.Labour has consistently said it will vote against May’s deal, and if the prime minister cannot get it approved by parliament, that it would attempt to force a general election, although the party would need to win the backing of the DUP, which has been propping up the Conservatives.But while the Northern Irish party has voiced multiple concerns about May’s deal since it was published, its leaders are suspicious of Labour under its current leadership, because Jeremy Corbyn has said he supports a united Ireland, if it can be brought about under the Good Friday Agreement.Earlier, Corbyn told the CBI he believed May was cynically using the threat of a no deal to keep her party’s MPs in line. “The choice between Theresa May’s deal and no deal is a false choice, designed to scare people into backing the government.”The Labour leader said the party would tout its alternative proposal in which the UK would remain in the customs union and retain a close relationship with the single market, in an attempt to gain some support in the business community.“The government is trying to force through this bad deal by threatening us all with the chaos and serious damage to our economy of a no-deal outcome. But the prime minister knows that no deal isn’t a real option,” Corbyn said.

Theresa May from the startIN a devastating revelation the former Greek Finance Minister confirms that Michel Barnier set the UK up for a Brexit loss from the start.By FREDDIE JORDAN | Express.co.uk

Yanis Varoufakis made the heart-stopping revelation on a podcast this morning.When asked whether he thought Mrs May understood the EU’s negotiating policy, he said: “Judging by her demeanour over the least year, she doesn’t seem to have understood much of what is pertinent about the EU.“The very acceptance of the process that Brussels has imposed upon her… “Remember when Mr Barnier came out with his announcement of how the negotiations were going to be structured? ‘There will be two phases, phase one you give us everything we want, phase two we discuss what you might want.’Mr Varoufakis explained: “This is not how you conduct negotiations. If I come to your house and say ‘you give me your house and then I’ll discuss with you whatever it is you want to discuss’, the answer is no.“There is no way that she would ever get anything decent out of those negotiations - no negotiations can ever lead to an honourable agreement if they are structured along those lines.”The former Greek politician was himself unable to negotiate a deal with the EU that avoided unpopular imposed austerity on the Greek economy three years ago.He warned that, like Greece, the UK will face an ultimatum.He gravely concluded: “I think that she’s going to face a take it or leave it offer - it has already been written in Brussels we don’t know what it is.“If she has any concept of the EU, which I hope by now she does, she should beware of the ultimatum because this is what the EU does - 11th hour ultimatum.“They will always try to sugarcoat it and if you are prepared to fudge it with them they will participate in the fudge, which means that they will catch it in a language which you can then pretend to be able to sell to your own people.“The EU’s the world capital of the fudge.”Theresa May has sought Angela Merkel’s help to seal a Brexit deal as efforts intensity to get it agreed by Christmas.

The UN is investigating the alleged embezzlement of up to €5 billion that disappeared from accounts owned by Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader, according to Belgian MP Georges Gilkinet.“UN documents confirm that Belgium failed to comply with a UN resolution on freezing Libyan assets,” he told the Belgian news network RTBF.He said that so far, he had received fragmented information from Belgian authorities and that is vital “to clarify the situation, which may lead to a big scandal, because hundreds of millions of euros were sent to unknown individuals in Libya who were not known.”RTBF also cited an anonymous source claiming that since 2013 the missing assets from the accounts have allegedly been used to “finance a civil war which led to a major migration crisis.”In Belgium, the probe which is headed by investigator Michel Claise comes amid reports that a portion of Gaddafi’s assets could be sent to the Libyan Investment Authority, a sovereign fund.Furthermore, a special UN report also suggested that the money was received by the Libyan Investment Authority. As reported by Sputnik, its complex structure makes it almost impossible to find out what these funds were allocated for.“The sum could have been sent to armed groups in Libya, something that further destabilized the region,” according to the report.This comes after in March 2018, local media reported that around €10 billion of Libyan government funds, which were frozen as part of the sanctions against Gaddafi’s inner circle had vanished from a Belgian bank between 2013 and 2017.Back in November 2013, four Euroclear Bank accounts belonging to the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and its subsidiary Libyan Foreign Investment Company (LFICO) in Bahrain and Luxembourg, contained some €16.1bn in frozen assets. However, when authorities tried to seize the funds in 2017, it turned out there was only just over €5bn left in those accounts, an investigation by Le Vif weekly revealed.“There remains a little less than 5 billion euros on the four accounts opened at Euroclear Bank SA,” Denis Goeman, a spokesman from Brussels’ prosecutor’s office told the Belgian publication. Michel Claise was initially the first to discovery that the funds were missing.He was in charge of the probe into alleged money laundering by Gaddafi’s inner circle, requested the seizure of the frozen Libyan funds.After the death of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the UN ruled that his assets should be frozen in four Belgian banks. However, it turned out later that interests and dividends from these assets have never been blocked.Belgium’s finance ministry insisted that the interest payments were legal, Le Vif’s investigation in March is certain that authorities must answer several crucial questions, the biggest one being: Where did the €10 billion vanish to?The probe by the UN and Michel Claise into the suspected illegal disbursement of interests and dividends on frozen accounts comes after months of denial from Foreign Minister Didier Reynders and silence from the rest of the cabinet. There has been little progress since the discovery of the initial missing €10 billion.Ever since the ousting and death of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been in political turmoil, showing no signs of ending over the last 7 years.Eastern Libya is governed by the parliament, backed by the Libyan National Army (LNA) and located in Tobruk. Whereas, Western Libya is led by the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj in Tripoli.Libya’s population is to vote in general elections on December 10th.

JULIAN Assange’s stay at the Ecuador embassy in London is being made increasingly unpleasant after he received a new set of rules prohibiting him from making political statements and ordering him to take care of his cat.

By ALICE SCARSI | Express.co.uk​The founder of WikiLeaks was also asked to clean his own bathroom, six years after he was granted political asylum at the embassy.In the nine-page memo he received, Mr Assange was told his access to the internet will be cut if he doesn’t refrain from activities “that could prejudice Ecuador’s good relations with other states”.Ecuador fears Mr Assange could release into the world more controversial statements after he challenged Theresa May’s claim Russia was behind the Salisbury nerve agent attack against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.After Mr Assange’s rebuke, the embassy’s staff cut him off from the internet in March to avoid stirring relations with the UK or other European Union’s countries. The internet privilege was given back to him only over the last weekend.Ecuador also denied Mr Assange to make phone calls and prohibited him to receive any visitors but his lawyers.Under the new rules, the WikiLeaks founder can have guests, but they must be approved by diplomatic staff three days in advance.The Australian-born WikiLeaks founder and his visitors are also banned from using “unauthorised equipment” in the building, and his wifi access is limited to his personal computer and phone. The memo also made clear that Mr Assange is responsible for the “wellbeing, food, hygiene and proper care” of his pet cat - which has often been photographed at the window facing Landon Place, the same from which Mr Assange speaks to the press.The controversial journalist, who sparked outrage across the world by releasing 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2010, was also told to keep his bathroom clean.After revealing details regarding the two wars the US government allegedly kept from the public, Mr Assange became the target of a criminal investigation launched by the US.On the same year, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for the journalist, as he was accused of rape. Prosecutors dropped the preliminary investigation in May last year claiming “all possibilities to conduct the investigation are exhausted”.

October 11, 2018NHS Staff Were Told The Swine Flu Vaccine Was Safe, And Now (some) are Suffering The Consequences

Dozens of NHS workers are fighting for compensation after developing narcolepsy from a swine flu vaccine that was rushed into service without the usual testing when the disease spread across the globe in 2009. They say it has destroyed their careers and their health.

When nurse Meleney Gallagher was told to line up with her colleagues on the renal ward at Sunderland Royal Hospital, for her swine flu vaccination, she had no idea the injection she was about to have had not gone through the usual testing process.It had been rushed into circulation after the swine flu virus had swept across the globe in 2009, prompting fears thousands of people could die. From the moment the needle broke Gallagher’s skin, her life would never be the same.“I remember vividly we were all lined up in the corridor and we were told we had to have it. It wasn’t a choice,” she claimed. “I was pressured into it. We were given no information.”The date was 23 November 2009 and Gallagher was one of thousands of NHS staff vaccinated with Pandemrix, a vaccine made by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).Eight years later, her career in the NHS is a memory and she’s living with incurable, debilitating narcolepsy and suffers from cataplexy, a sudden, uncontrollable loss of muscle tone that can cause her to collapse without warning. Because of her condition, she can no longer work or drive.People with narcolepsy experience chronic fatigue and difficulty sleeping at night. They can have night terrors, hallucinations, and a range of mental health problems.Gallagher is not alone. More than a dozen frontline NHS staff are among around 1,000 adults and children across Europe who are believed to have developed narcolepsy after being given Pandemrix. Today BuzzFeed News can reveal for the first time their battle to gain acknowledgement for a government decision that they say ruined their careers and has dominated their lives since.Gallagher and four other NHS professionals – two nurses, a community midwife, and a junior doctor – have told how they felt pressured into receiving the vaccine, were given misleading information, and ultimately lost their careers.They are all suing GlaxoSmithKline seeking compensation for what they believe was a faulty drug that has left them with lifelong consequences and means they will require medication and support for the rest of their lives.They have been forced to take legal action, along with almost a hundred other sufferers, to force the company and the government to accept the consequences of the rushed vaccination programme eight years ago. In contrast to the UK, European countries have already compensated people whose narcolepsy was linked to the swine flu vaccine.The revelations come the same day that health secretary Jeremy Hunt launched new measures to improve patient safety in the NHS, in response to research conducted by experts at the Universities of Sheffield, Manchester, and York that showed prescription errors cause 1,700 deaths each year, could contribute to as many as 22,000 deaths, and cost the NHS £1.6 billion.The BuzzFeed News investigation raises serious questions over the advice that was given to NHS staff at the time by the government’s chief medical officer, the chief nurse, and the national flu director that the vaccine had been “thoroughly tested” and was safe to use. That advice was shared in a joint statement by the Department of Health (DH), medical royal colleges, and trade unions, including the British Medical Association and Unison.Normally vaccines undergo testing to make sure they are safe, and vaccination has been proven to save millions of lives across the globe. But Pandemrix was different. It had not gone through the normal process and was fast-tracked without the usual clinical trials.Staff were also not told that the government had agreed a unique deal with GSK to indemnify the company for any problems with the vaccine.The investigation also turns the spotlight on decisions by the UK government to continue using the vaccine even after other European countries suspended its use once evidence of a problem emerged.Peter Carter, then chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, told BuzzFeed News it was “a matter of huge concern” that the vaccine had not been properly tested, contrary to what he was told at the time.Meleney Gallagher was diagnosed in 2013 but only after years of being unable to stay awake and having cataplexy attacks several times a day, sometimes caused simply by laughing. (full article)

Mr Hunt, who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum, made the remark as he addressed the annual Tory conference in Birmingham.He told Conservative delegates: "What happened to the confidence and ideals of the European dream?"The EU was set up to protect freedom. It was the Soviet Union that stopped people leaving."The lesson from history is clear: if you turn the EU club into a prison, the desire to get out won't diminish it will grow."Mr Hunt also defended Brexit voters as he echoed Margaret Thatcher's iconic 'No, no, no' diatribe against the EU in 1990.He said: "Our friends in Europe need to understand that 52 percent of the country's aren't rapid populists trying to build Fortress Britain."We fought for peace on our continent so none of us will ever turn our back on historic."We understand the EU wants to protect itself."But if the only way to deal with the UK leaving is to try to force its break up, the answer is 'No, no, no'."Also speaking at the Tory Party conference in Birmingham, Liam Fox highlighted what he saw as the investment opportunities in the UK post-Brexit before sounding a warning about the Labour Party.He told party members: "Let me tell you what global investors really fear."They fear a Corbyn Labour government that would steal their investments and call it nationalisation."He added: "They fear the dark forces bubbling under the surface of the hard-left - anti-wealth, anti-trade and anti-Semitic."Mr Fox went on: "A party which is not the future of the young but the betrayers of the young, whose reckless spending plans would leave an economic wasteland and a generation or more of debt to be repaid."Frankly, we failed to spell that out at the last election.

Yesterday (on September 12, 2018), the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgement in Big Brother Watch & Others V. the UK. Below, we answer some of the main questions relating to the case.

What's the ruling all about?In a nutshell, one of the world's most important courts, the European Court of Human Rights, yesterday found that certain UK laws about how intelligence agencies can spy on our internet communications breach our human rights. These surveillance laws have meant that the UK intelligence agencies can sweep up huge amounts of our internet communications (what is referred to in the law as a rather technical and harmless sounding "bulk interception). This can include social media posts, emails sent and received, internet searches, websites you visit, and apps that you use.Privacy International was one of the organisations which filed the case - so we're fairly happy about its outcome.How does this kind of spying on internet traffic breach human rights exactly?A bit of background. Modern human rights laws were drafted after the Second World War, and from the outset, there was a recognition that not all human rights are equal: some rights, like the right to not be tortured, are absolute, meaning that no country is ever allowed to torture people under any circumstances. Other rights however, like the right to freedom of speech, are qualified, meaning that in some circumstances, a government is allowed to interfere with that right - but it needs a very good reason for doing so. For example, you're allowed to say almost whatever you want about your government (if you live in a proper democracy) without being censored, but if you're inciting violence with your free speech, the government would be able to argue that it's within its powers to restrict your ability to exercise your rights in this circumstance.Like freedom of speech, the right to privacy is also a qualified right. This is why we went to the European Court of Human Rights - because while the UK government thinks its OK to interfere with the privacy of millions of people, we don't think it is.So, what happened yesterday was that Court decided in our favour in several respects - the UK's mass internet spying laws ARE a breach of our human rights, including our right to privacy and freedom of speech.So how does the UK spy on people's internet use?In a bunch of different ways, but the main ways which were being examined by the Court were 'bulk interception' powers and the UK's intelligence sharing arrangements.The internet is basically a massive network of connected computers speaking to one another. To read this webpage, your device has to 'ask' Privacy International's server to show you this content, which it typically sends along telecoms cables (though depending on your network, sometimes satellites). Of course, you could be reading this anywhere in the world: in that case, this internet traffic is likely travelling along international underwater cables at lightspeed - indeed, because of the way the internet works, sometimes it might be quicker for this internet traffic to travel across several continents, even if you're reading this in the UK which is where PI is based! Because a lot of the online services people use are also based in the US (think Amazon or Google), it means that if someone in the UK were to visit a US website or app use them, or indeed anywhere else in the world, their traffic would also travel along these international cables. What this means is that a huge proportion of global internet traffic is travelling along these submarine cables.In the UK, these major cables carry internet traffic into and out of the country - and it's them which the intelligence agencies are tapping. But instead of tapping them as they might a phone line (ie wiretapping someone's calls if there's some specific suspicion that that person is engaging in criminal activity) they're collecting it all - the internet traffic of millions of people. This is what's known as 'bulk interception'.It's important to remember an important fact about these cables - if you want to use the internet regularly, your data WILL travel through these cables whether you like it or not. What's the issue with 'intelligence sharing'?In addition to the UK's own bulk interception, the UK government also has sharing arrangements with the US and other English speaking countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand) known as the 'Five Eyes'. Though much of this arrangement is shrouded in secrecy, public sources indicate they are, by default, sharing intelligence collected by national agencies with one another. So as the US National Security Agency (NSA) carries out its own submarine cable tapping programmes, it is sharing it automatically with the UK. The pay off, of course, is that the UK has to give the US access to all the intelligence it gathers.The problem with sharing intelligence with foreign agencies - which can obviously be really useful - is that it is not properly regulated against abuses. This isn't about them sharing details of a few suspects - we're talking about countries giving each other access to everything they collect. This raises the same concerns we have around mass surveillance, whether initiated by the government's own intelligence agencies or by someone else. And because countries' laws tend to generally only protect their own citizens from being spied upon, it potentially allows agencies to sidestep protections by spying on one another’s populations and then sharing it. In this way it could provide agencies with backdoor access - and that's why it needs to be properly regulated and overseen. (full article)

​September 12 2018Donald Trump to the Rescue of the Same Al Qaeda “Freedom Fighters” Who Attacked America on 9/11?By Prof Michel Chossudovsky | Global Research

President Donald Trump is coming to the rescue of Al Qaeda freedom fighters in Northern Syria:“President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province,The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake …Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed,…Don’t let that happen!” (Donald Trump)“Humanitarian mistake”? Since when has Trump expressed concern for saving lives?

Both the media and the US government are accusing Bashar al Assad of attacking a region which encompasses three million people. That’s more than the population of Damascus. The latest figures, from Russian sources (acknowledged by the UN) is that the Al Nusrah group has 16,000 militants. All in all there are between 40-45 armed groups representing some 50,000 rebels (according to the Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia (AFP, September 7, 2008)The unspoken truth is that the Syrian government is intent upon liberating a region of the country where civilians are being held hostage by Al Qaeda affiliated terrorists supported by the US and its allies.Trump’s special envoy, Brett McGurk, admits that Idlib has become “the largest al Qaeda safe haven since 9/11.” What he fails to mention is that these “jihadist” mercenaries entered Syria with the support of US-NATO-Israel-Turkey, not to mention the Gulf States. Until recently we called them “moderate rebels”.Idlib is Al Qaeda’s de facto capital in Syria. According to Tony Cartalucci, “Idlib remains one of the last remaining strongholds of Al Qaeda in Syria”.Western Special Forces in Idlib within Al Qaeda Ranks?The Al Qaeda rebels are the foot-soldiers of the Western military alliance (with US and allied special forces, intelligence, weapons and logistics experts within their ranks). With an estimated 50,000 rebels, the number of embedded (covert) Western paramilitary (Arab speaking) mercenary forces is significant (e.g. from private security companies in liaison with US-NATO-Israel-Turkey).While there are no reliable figures regarding the number of US-allied sponsored mercenary special forces in the Idlib Region working with Al Qaeda rebel groups, earlier reports confirm the presence of Western special forces, covert intelligence agents including British SAS, French Parachutistes, CIA, MI6 and Mossad embedded within rebel ranks. “Their activities are not limited to training. They are routinely involved in overseeing the conduct of terrorist operations on the ground together with thousands of mercenaries recruited from Muslim countries”.From the outset of the insurgency in 2011, Al Qaeda affiliated rebel forces including al Nusrah were “infiltrated” by Western military and intelligence operatives.“MI6 and the CIA are in Syria to infiltrate and get at the truth,” said the well-placed source. “We have SAS and SBS not far away who want to know what is happening … ” (Syria will be bloodiest yet, Daily Star, January 2012). (emphasis added) (full Article)

July 29, 1967 while on the deck and in his plane on the carrier U.S.S. Forrestal John McCain managed to screw up procedures (officially denied and covered up by him and the Navy)August 30, 2018Trump is Correct, John McCain is NOT A HeroBy J. H. Holtz | Man Talk Blog(Originally published - July 23, 2015)First a bit of an introduction on the meaning of HERO…

The word hero in today’s world is far overused. “Hero” is so much overused it has diluted the value and real meaning and has cheapened the word for those who actually deserve the term. For example, we have foot ball heroes, NASCAR heroes, and everyday police, fire fighters, and even our everyday military folks are called heroes for just doing their jobs. I too amongst many millions of others was in the military and I am certainly not a hero for simply serving–I did nothing heroic.A hero does something truly heroic and above what his job or calling is and many times that may mean to save a life and at great risk to his life or to sit atop a burning tank with a machine gun and kill a couple hundred attacking Germans as Audie Murphy (America’s most decorated hero) did in WWII. By applying the word hero to sports figures and even cancer survivors (I am one of those too) we have turned the term hero into aneveryday word having little real value anymore–we have diluted the word, its meaning, and its value. We should stop destroying this word, its meaning and its value and return it and the people who earned the title for real to the status it once had.I am a conservative and a Republican, and I do not like anything about John McCain. He dumped his wife when she was injured in an accident, remarried into serious beer distribution money. His soft television interview voice belies the way he really is; mean, nasty, hot tempered, vindictive, a progressive, a back stabber (ask Palin) and quick to pretend and project he is a nice guy. Look at how he back stabbed and treated Sarah Palin after HIS engineered massive loss of the presidency–and that loss was all caused by him alone.To show his real colors towards our Constitution and the Second Amendment I learned he even he appeared on television and print ads in Colorado media advocating more gun control of its citizens during Colorado’s consideration of more gun control during the 2002 election period. Imagine, a Republican, Arizona U.S. senator traveling to another state to attack their Second Amendment Constitutional rights.McCain all by himself nearly sank a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier…McCain, when a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy was a Navy pilot (they call themselves aviators). July 29, 1967 while on the deck and in his plane on the carrier U.S.S. Forrestal he managed to screw up procedures (officially denied and covered up by him and the Navy and also even promoted on Wikipedia if you care to look–reason to follow). He did a smart ass punk attention getting trick by doing a “wet start” up of his jet.War Is a Racket: The A...Smedley DarlingtonWhen a pilot wants to be a wise ass or show off, this type of engine start creates a large startling flame and lots of surprise noise from the rear of a jet engine on start up–this was no accident. This and the large subsequent electrical surge and apparent (incorrect and against policy) weapon arming (by the pilot) caused the launching of a powerful Zuni rocket across the carrier’s deck hitting other parked planes (photo below) that were packing 1,000 high-explosive pound bombs. The subsequent massive explosions, fire and destruction went several decks below and nearly sunk this major 82,000 ton U.S. aircraft carrier.Crew members fight a series of fires and explosions on the carrier’s after flight deck, in the Gulf of Tonkin, 29 July 1967. The conflagration took place as heavily-armed and fueled aircraft were being prepared for combat missions over North Vietnam thanks to a Zuni rocket fired into them from John McCain’s aircraft across the deck of the ship. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)This stunt and aftermath caused the death of 134 sailors and seriously injure (blow off arms legs, cause blindness and burns to another 161 sailors) and took the ship off the battle line for extensive repairs. Any other Navy pilot causing this type of death and destruction the Navy would have raped him and he would probably still be in the brig. Why not McCain? Well, first with many powerful connections this “little infraction” was covered up by the Navy (our most politically involved/connected service by the way).You see his grandfather was a famous FOUR STAR Navy admiral and his dad was at the time of the incident was a powerful Navy FOUR STAR admiral and McCain graduated from the Navy Academy. So the old boy Navy tradition cover his ass network went into high gear immediately; and make no mistake, it does exist and it did for him.So when McCain was shot down and captured allegedly he, due to his father’s high rank the Communists were so impressed that McCain was offered up BY THE COMMUNISTS to be returned to the U.S. to show some type of recognition of his importance as the son of an active duty very powerful and influential U.S. Navy four star admiral (and he was). And then the fairy tale continues that McCain himself turned down the early release while still under the care of a communist doctor for his injuries so he could remain with his fellow prisoners for years and be tortured–oh sure! And remember, any information about his first hand refusal to stay a prisoner comes from him relating it to others.Let’s say it were true. Then that would mean the hardcore Communist enemy fighting an active war against the U.S. deferred to his “importance and influence” and that of his dad (according to the story line).So I ask you…if an enemy thought this much of him and his four star admiral dad, would not our own U.S. Navy during their “investigation” of the Zuni missile launch from his parked plane while he was in the cockpit starting it up also NOT do this for him and sweep this little infraction which could have sunk an aircraft carrier under the rug? You betcha! Of course the Navy covered up the Forrestal disaster for McCain and his family and Navy tradition.BUT, think about this. Since when can any POW tell his Communist captures he does not want to go or do something–and they then obey him and his desires and requests? Anyone who believes that is a moron! It is all bullshit later created to advance a political future for this “heroic” navy pilot and former P.O.W..But let’s pretend it is true. If it were true, probably the Communists wanted him back on duty so he could blow the hell out of another Navy ship–because they sure did not have the resources to cause this type of damage to our forces themselves.After the war and the prisoner exchange McCain was allowed to continue his service and retired from the (old boy network) Navy as a Captain (a rank just short of admiral).There is so much more on McCain but it would take too much to cover. The bottom line is Trump is correct when he says McCain is NOT a hero. Sure Trump is a huge pain in the ass, but it does not mean he does not know what he is talking about either. It is possible McCain did some sort of heroic type effort survival things like living through torture as did so many others during their capture–but he sure as hell isNOT a hero. Being a P.O.W. is not being a hero.Escaping and then leading an attack back on his captures as Army Special Forces Lt. Colonel (then Lieutenant) James N. (Nick) Rowe did the next day after his escape and helicopter discovery and rescue all after being held in a tiny cage (and tortured) and having to live in far worse conditions than Hanoi Hilton for five years in the jungle of Viet Nam. Rowe, while racked with near death dysentery and weighing just 125 pounds of his original 180, barely able to walk did just that–he insisted on boarding a chopper to lead an attack against his former keeper’s camp deep in enemy territory before they could move to another location. Now that is pretty damn heroic–and he got nothing for that. In fact, you probably have never heard of him.And when McCain makes self-serving remarks in a recent blatantly disingenuous effort to curry a connection with today’s younger voters in response to Trump’s mid-July comments by saying…“TODAY’S military people are better than his generation…”that remark has him spitting directly in the face of the many hundreds of thousands of those who served, lived, survived and died in our military during the years 1954 to 1981–McCain’s time on duty including his four years in the Navy Academy (the official headquarters for the good old boy network and its graduates).Last, true to his behavior pattern of it’s always the other guy’s fault and he is just a really sweet guy McCain is working to try to convert and reposition Trump’s public stated opinion of McCain personally to make it look like Trump means what he said is about all former POWs.Hey, it is just what McCain does and who he really is!

​ August 26, 2018Pope Francis in Ireland, Live Updates: Call for Resignation Further Clouds VisitBy THE NEW YORK TIMES(note - image above not from NY Times)On the second day of a difficult mission to win back the confidence of Irish Roman Catholics, Pope Francis awoke on Sunday to a bombshell accusation from within his own citadel.A former top-ranking Vatican official released a 7,000-word letter asserting that the pontiff had known about the abuses of a now-disgraced American prelate, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, years before they became public.The official, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a conservative critic of Francis and a former apostolic nuncio to the United States, claimed that the pope had failed to punish Cardinal McCarrick, who was suspended in June after allegations that he had coerced seminarians into sexual relationships. He was also found to have abused a teenage altar boy 47 years ago, when he was a priest in New York.In the letter, published on Saturday in Italian by The National Catholic Register and in English by LifeSiteNews, both critical of Francis, the archbishop called on the pope to resign. “In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church,” the archbishop wrote, “he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set an example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign with all of them.”The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.The archbishop’s startling accusation will not come as a complete surprise to Vatican watchers, since he is part of a conservative camp that blames liberals, like the pope, for allowing homosexuality in the church. But it further complicates Francis’ efforts to convince Irish Catholics that the church is ready to confront its legacy of concealing sexual abuse.• Francis prayed at the revered shrine in the village of Knock on Sunday and then returned to Dublin to celebrate Mass, after his meeting with survivors of abuse on Saturday.• In Knock, he addressed the issue of child sexual and institutional abuse by members of the Catholic Church, begging “for the Lord’s forgiveness” for “the scandal and betrayal.”• Vigils were held across the country, including in Tuam, where the remains of hundreds of children were found buried in an abandoned septic system of a Catholic-run home for unmarried mothers.• The New York Times has live coverage of the pope’s visit to Ireland. Here are highlights from Saturday’s (full story)

August 21, 2018Kindergarten dresses children as jihadis for parade in IndonesiaManager apologises for independence day march costumes and denies trying to ‘instil violence’ into childrenKate Lamb in Jakarta | The GuardianA kindergarten in Indonesia has been criticised for dressing girls up in black, Isis-style costumes and replica rifles for an independence day parade, with organisers forced to apologise for the embarrassing gaffe. Photos of the “cultural” parade held in the city of Probolinggo, east Java, on Saturday showed lines of young girls marching on the street wearing niqab-style black veils, carrying cardboard cutouts of guns.The head of the TK Kartika kindergarten apologised “deeply” for the costumes, expressing regret over the decision and saying they were not trying to “instil violence” in the kindergarten children.“We raised the theme of the struggle of the Prophet to increase faith and devotion to Allah,” said kindergarten head Hartatik, when asked to explain the controversial attire.The kindergarten is on the site of an Indonesian military complex, and Saturday’s parade took place a day after independence day, which falls on 17 August, in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.Asked to explain why the kindergarten had chosen the costumes, Hartatik admitted they had pooled props from previous years to save money. “We used it to save funds,” Hartatik told BBC Indonesia. “[We] never thought about the impact. The important thing is to take part in the parade, that the children were happy, using the existing property.”The kindergarten head did not offer any explanation as to why the jihadist-style costumes had been used in previous years.Speaking at a media conference following uproar over the event, Probolinggo military commander, Lieutenant Colonel Kav Depri Rio Saransi said the parade was purely to educate the students about the “struggle of Islam” but was not intended to promote religious radicalism. “There is not the slightest bit of radicalism. I emphasise that purely there is no such thing as an element of intentionally showing the existence of radical activities,” he said, before offering a further apology.Images and videos of the parade went viral on social media in the country and hit the same day that Indonesia opened the 18th Asian Games in a spectacular ceremony in Jakarta, which celebrated the country’s rich cultural diversity.The Probolinggo parade is an embarrassing gaffe for Indonesia as it works to show its best face to the world through the huge sporting event involving 45 countries, the largest of its kind after the Olympics.News of the parade has also reached the Indonesian parliament, with House speaker Bambang Soesatyo describing it as an “inappropriate spectacle”.“Ordering children to wear black veiled costumes and carry replica weapons gives a poor perception,” he said, “Treatment like that could damage children’s ideas.” (full article)

August 8, 2018Hashtag highlighting 'violence against women' is going viral in Saudi Arabia

In an effort to bring women's rights in Saudi Arabia to the spotlight, women recently kick-started an online campaign highlighting the intensity of abuse in the kingdom. They are exposing the different forms of abuse encountered on a daily basis, under a hashtag titled "Violence Against Saudi Women." The abuse goes beyond just verbal and sexual harassment, of which a number of cases have been reported in recent months.Women are heavily criticizing the legal system in place which cultivates a misogynistic environment, further encouraging violence and discrimination against women.One such example is the kingdom's male guardianship system, under which being absent from home is considered a criminal offense, even if a woman is fleeing abuse.

In case of abuse,the legal system of the Kingdom provides a Freedom Ticket to the abuser,and locks the victim in until her guardian approves of her release.The case of Majid Manei Al Omeir, a Saudi husband who allegedly abused his wife, is just one example of existing loopholes in the system. Earlier this month, a video - in which Omeir's wife was heard screaming for her life as she was being beaten - went viral on social media. Soon after, authorities launched an investigation into the case, but claimed the incident had been fabricated, adding that no evidence of abuse was found.However, the woman who filmed the video alongside thousands of others on social media have claimed authorities were covering up the crime due to the fact that Al Omeir is related to Assir governorate's official spokesman, Saad bin Abdullah Al Thabit.

#ViolenceAgainstSaudiWomen This is Amna one of the victims in this video she’s talking about her abuser (her father) We never heard from her until this momentIn October 2017, Saudi national Amna Al Juaid pleaded for her life in a series of videos that went viral on social media. In one of two videos shared by her friends on Twitter, the victim was heard saying:"I am recording this video today, because it might be the last video in my life and also for you to know I am real and I am here," Al Juaid said in Arabic.In another video, the young woman revealed she had been abused by her own father. She explained that after enduring years of abuse, she finally fled her home when her father tried to force her into marrying a cousin.Although the kingdom criminalized domestic abuse in 2013, women who suffer from violence at the hands of their male guardians find it extremely difficult to escape and legally charge their abusers.

And the tragic case of Dina Ali:Dina Ali was kidnapped because she decided to live in Australia safely.The culprit is her uncle.

August 2, 2018EU WILL LOSE: Theresa May told WTO will turn UK into an ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE after BrexitTHERESA May’s hand has been massively strengthened in the Brexit negotiations after a new study revealed that using World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules instead of making a deal with the EU will turn Britain into an economic powerhouse.

By DAVID MADDOX, | express.co.uk

The research carried out by eminent former Harvard economist and entrepreneur Michael Burrage reveals that countries which do not have a trade deal with the EU and rely on WTO rules – known as the World Trade Deal option - strongly outperform their rivals.The study comes as foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned the EU that it will be making a “terrible geostrategic mistake” if it forces a no deal which means Britain will opt for the World Trade Deal through WTO membership.Mr Hunt warned that the UK and EU face a “messy divorce” because of Brussels intransigence while he held talks with his Austrian counterpart Karin Kneissl.Mr Burrage’s work appears to confirm that Britain will thrive if the EU forces a no deal.It follows work by Economists for Free Trade which showed that the Treasury would collect £80 billion a year based on the revenue created by moving on to the World Trade Deal on WTO rules.If this were to happen the UK would also keep its £39 billion which had been earmarked as a divorce bill to paid to the EU.The advantage of a World Trade Deal on WTO terms is that the UK is not bound by EU rules or committed to agree to its red tape and regulations, while it is able to strike lucrative free trade deals around the world.Mr Burrage, a member of Economists for Free Trade, has specifically attacked assessments made by the Treasury on a so called “no deal” which he branded "dishonest, incompetent and shamelessly partisan" for suggesting it was the worst option.The Treasury analysis is the basis for the controversial Chequers plan which would tie the UK to EU rules and make it hard to strike other free trade deals.Instead Mr Burrage has argued that going to WTO rules should be considered the “best option.”He points out that exports by the UK to 111 countries outside the EU under WTO rules grew by 2.9 percent between 1993 and 2015.This was more than three times greater than the 0.9 percent growth in exports to EU countries in the same period and one percent higher than trade with the 62 countries which have trade agreements with the EU.

'Mrs May could deliver exactly what she promised at Lancaster House, and stay well behind all her red lines without the least difficulty.'Michael Burrage

He also pointed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Direction of Trade Statistics report which shows that of the 22 largest value goods exporters to the EU over the years 1993-2015, 15 were trading as most favoured nations under WTO rules and seven under some kind of bilateral agreement.The group relying on WTO rules grew by 135 percent over the period and the one with trade agreements grew by 107 percent.More importantly, they grew almost twice as much as the exports of the 12 founder EU members to each other which grew by only 70 percent, and four times more than UK exports to the other eleven, which grew by a mere 25 percent.Mr Burrage said: “Mrs May could deliver exactly what she promised at Lancaster House, and stay well behind all her red lines without the least difficulty.“There would be no quarrel about the sequencing of negotiations, no reason for UK negotiators to be supplicants on their knees, since they would finally have some leverage.“They would have no reason to make concessions or further payments to the EU, other than for past commitments and for participation in selected future joint activities.“And Mrs May domestic political opposition would be limited to those who want to reverse the referendum, a far less daunting task than at present. The government could then concentrate on making free trade agreements with the EU and others over the transition period."His work reflects concerns that the Treasury has been rigging figures and evidence to push for a soft Brexit where Britain stays under EU rule.Before he resigned as foreign secretary Boris Johnson described Chancellor Philip Hammond as “the heart of Remain” in the cabinet while accusations have been made that the Treasury has deliberately tried to slow down economic growth to support the case for a soft Brexit.Senior pro-Brexit Tory MPs have lent their support for a World Trade Deal if Brussels continues to be unreasonable.Jacob Ress-Mogg, the leader of the powerful European Research Group, told the Daily Express: “We ought not to be afraid of a World Trade Deal based on a World Trade Organisation (WTO) solution which is how we do 60 percent of our international trade already.”Former Brexit minister David Jones said: “Resorting to a World Trade deal would not cause any problems.”Former Brexit minister David Jones said: “Resorting to a World Trade deal would not cause any problems.”Meanwhile senior Tory MP Peter Bone, the founder of Grassroots Out, said: “I think we the World Trade Deal is now the best option available to us.”Meanwhile, in Austria, Mr Hunt told his counterpart that a failure to get a deal is now increasing.The message is due to be repeated to French President Emmanuel Macron by Theresa May today.Ms Kneissl played down Mr Hunt's warnings that both sides could be heading for an accidental no-deal Brexit although she acknowledged that they were "prepared for the different possible scenarios".Mr Hunt's visit to Austria coincides with the country holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, giving Vienna a key role in deciding the agenda for the bloc's leaders.Speaking alongside his Austrian counterpart the Foreign Secretary said: "Austria has a special role because of its EU presidency and so all we say is, looking at your huge experience of foreign policy and historical knowledge, let's not make this one of those moments where a terrible mistake is made which we are still talking about in 20 or 30 years."Let's have a pragmatic solution that allows that deep and special partnership, friendship, between the UK and Europe to continue."In a Twitter message he added: "We want the EU to prosper but there is a real risk of a messy divorce which would be a geostrategic mistake." full article

Sitting on a chipped wooden bench, the three-year-old swings her legs excitedly. Her sandals barely touch the floor as she watches a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon.It is hard to believe Comfort is a witch.Yet this is why she and her two older siblings are now living in an emergency shelter in the city of Calabar, in the southeast corner of Nigeria.It's little more than a basement with a television and half a dozen threadbare mattresses.The door is locked most of the time for the children’s own safety.The shelter was intended to be a temporary solution - a stop-gap until the children could be placed with extended family. But no-one wants to risk bringing the children - all of whom have been branded witches - into their homes. Once her cartoon has finished, Comfort totters outside and lifts her shirt to reveal a sea of whitened welts across her back. These ragged scars trace the outlines of the red-hot machete that a neighbour used to force her to “confess”.Led into darknessIn early February, Comfort and her sister Hope, 15, and five-year-old brother Godbless had been living with their grandmother Christiana in nearby Akampka. Their parents had died suddenly in unexplained circumstances, and while this had made Christiana wary of the children, she had agreed to take them in. Already diagnosed as HIV positive and not taking her anti-retroviral drugs, Christiana's health was failing and she was becoming increasingly thin and frail. Blaming the children for her ailing health, Christiana took them to her local church for guidance. There, a so-called prophet confirmed her worst fears - the children were branded witches.For Christiana, this explained everything - the death of her daughter and son-in-law, her sickness, and the children’s rowdy behaviour. Shortly afterwards, a neighbour called Rankin overheard Christiana accusing the children of cutting the rope of the washing line in the family compound - blaming their witchcraft for their actions. After talking to Christiana and finding out more about the accusations, Rankin returned the next day with a friend.“He started beating us and told us to untie our grandmother from the witchcraft world,” says Hope.The children tried to escape through the surrounding palm trees but were quickly rounded up by the two men and taken to the neighbour’s house. Their hands and feet were bound, and Rankin heated up a machete blade in the coals of a nearby fire.“They then asked us if we were witches,” says Hope from the safehouse in Calabar. “We said, ‘No’.”“So he started beating us in turn with the hot machete, from morning until afternoon.”Blood bloomed black on the ground as again and again they were asked to confess.“We eventually said, ‘Yes’,” says Hope. “Then they asked us if we are the ones that killed our father and mother - we said, ‘Yes’.“They asked us if all these troubles in our family - we are the ones who caused them - we said, ‘Yes’.”full article

Theresa May has presided over a “cloak and dagger” plot to undermine Brexit, in a move that will “blow apart” public trust in democracy, the Prime Minister’s former Brexit minister has told The Telegraph.Steve Baker, who quit the Government along with his boss, David Davis, last Sunday, says he resigned after discovering that for months an “establishment elite” had secretly been pursuing a plan for a much softer Brexit than the one on which he and Mr Davis had been working.The move effectively rendered the Brexit department a “Potemkin structure to [distract from] what the Cabinet Office Europe unit was doing for the Prime Minister,” he adds.In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Baker says the Government is now in a “pathetic” position of “supplication” to the EU. He warns that if Mrs May were to pursue her current plan, public trust in democracy would be lost, adding that he fears voters would turn to far-Right and Left candidates “when they can’t get what they want from normal mainstream parties”.His intervention comes as:

Mrs May launches a desperate bid to sell her Brexit blueprint to the public with a hastily-organised live television interview this morning, as she faces a growing number of Tory MPs declaring they have no confidence in her leadership.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic backbenchers, said Mrs May’s insistence that her deal maintained her “red lines” for the negotiations was reminiscent of her claim that “nothing has changed” after a major about-turn during last year’s election.

Tory MPs who returned to northern constituencies on Friday warned of an avalanche of opposition to the plan. Simon Clarke, the MP for South and East Cleveland, said it had “gone down like a lead balloon”. Last night an Opinium poll put Labour four points ahead of the Conservatives, with support for Ukip rising five points in the last month.

Writing in The Telegraph, Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, urges disaffected MPs not to vote down the Trade Bill in the Commons this week, saying to do so would threaten jobs.

A former ally of Mrs May attacked her character, saying her mood can switch “from zero to nuclear” within seconds during routine discussions. Last night Mrs May insisted her plan was “practical and pragmatic” and hit out at Brexiteers with a claim that she was “yet to see a workable alternative future trading arrangement that would avoid a hard border in northern Ireland and deliver the referendum result”.

Mr Baker states that the Brexit department had drawn up a “white paper” which set out workable proposals in line with Mrs May’s previous public speeches. Following the appearance of Mrs May’s own white paper ahead of a Cabinet meeting at Chequers to sign it off, Mr Baker realised “large sections of the Government were working on the Chequers plan, and they’ve just had a coup de grâce at the last minute”.

“It does appear to me that there has been a year’s worth of cloak and dagger to land us into the Chequers position,” he says, adding: “An establishment elite who never accepted the fundamental right of the public to choose democratically their institutions are working towards overturning them.”In an extraordinary set of allegations, Mr Baker describes the Brexit department as "effectively a Potemkin structure" - a Brexiteer-led facade existing as cover for Downing Street while officials elsewhere worked on a plan its ministers would never have accepted."We're back to what civil servants wanted a year ago, the advice they were giving then, of something like the EEA [European Economic Area membership] plus something like the customs union," he said. "You can't work with that. How could I possibly stay in government knowing that Dexeu is effectively a Potemkin structure to represent what the Cabinet Office Europe unit was doing for the Prime Minister?"In terms of who ultimately holds the pen on the papers that go to Cabinet for collective decision, it has been the Cabinet Office's Europe Unit, and they have clearly been operating to a different ultimate goal to the one what we were operating to."

By Zerohedge.comAs Americans were busy with July 4th celebrations, the temperature was heating up in the Persian Gulf a day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested Iran could stop all regional gulf oil exports in retaliation for the US seeking to collapse the nuclear deal, and in response to aggressive new US sanctions.

"The Americans have claimed they want to completely stop Iran's oil exports. They don't understand the meaning of this statement, because it has no meaning for Iranian oil not to be exported, while the region's oil is exported," the state-run website, president.ir, quoted Rouhani as saying. “The Americans say they want to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero... It shows they have not thought about its consequences,” Rouhani said. After the provocative Iranian statements, widely understood as a threat to impose military blockade on the world's most crucial oil choke point, spokesman for the US military's Central Command, Captain Bill Urban, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that US sailors and its regional allies"stand ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever international law allows".Washington has issued an ultimatum to countries dealing with Iran: halt all imports of Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or face punitive US economic measures with no exemptions. Rouhani called these threats "crime and aggression" and an act of "self-harm" as the unwavering stance is “against U.S. national interests and the interests of other countries.” He said this while in Vienna attempting to rally European governments to stand against Trump's policies targeting Tehran. Previous threats by Iranian officials to possibly take the drastic action of blocking the the Strait of Hormuz — though once easily shrugged off as empty talk — are now coming to a head as the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has thrown its full weight behind Rouhani's words, to which the Pentagon responded, issuing its firm response promising to keep the waterway open through military action if need be.Though Rouhani's initial words could be somewhat open to interpretation, IRGC commander Major-General Qassem Soleimani followed up on Wednesday in a published letter addressed to the Iranian president: "Your comments, carried by the media, that if the Islamic Republic’s oil isn’t exported there would be no guarantees for the whole region’s oil to be exported, is a very valuable comment,” Soleimani wrote, “I kiss your (Rouhani’s) hand for expressing such wise and timely comments, and I am at your service to implement any policy that serves the Islamic Republic,” he said. As Quds force leader (the special forces IRGC unit engaged in of foreign operations), Soleimani is precisely the one who would oversee such an operation as blocking Gulf exports. The Straight of Hormuz at its narrowest is about 31 miles wide and approximately 20% of the world's seaborne oil passes through it, annd the IRGC has in the past threatened the passageway by conducting war games, such as during a period of heightened tensions with the West over the straight in 2011 and 2012. via AFPTo put things in perspective considering potential disruption, the last major crisis of global economic consequence took place nearly three decades ago: The largest oil market disruption ever occurred in August 1990, when Iraq's invasion of Kuwait took 4.3 million barrels per day of oil off the market—about 6.5 percent of world supply. That stoppage caused world oil prices to double (from about $20 to $40 per barrel). But a blockade of Hormuz would cut off nearly four times as much oil as the Kuwait crisis did, disrupting a share of the oil market three times greater.Meanwhile, Iran OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, weighed in with dire warnings in statements carried by Iran's oil ministry news agency SHANA.“Trump’s demand that Iranian oil should not be bought, and (his) pressures on European firms at a time when Nigeria and Libya are in crisis, when Venezuela’s oil exports have fallen due to U.S. sanctions, when Saudi’s domestic consumption has increased in summer, is nothing but self harm,” Ardebili said. “It will increase the prices of oil in the global markets,” he said, and echoing Rouhani's theme of US "self-harm" he added, “At the end it is the American consumer who will pay the price for Mr. Trump’s policy.”So far the EU is standing by Iran as a major longtime oil importer, but some European officials have acknowledged US sanctions will create an unpredictable environment, potentially making guarantees to Tehran impossible to fulfill. Iran has reportedly taken measures to gear up for survival amidst the coming economic war, according to Bloomberg, offering to barter oil for goods. “We have informed our oil customers that we will only buy their commodities if they buy our crude,” stated the spokesman for Parliament’s energy commission.This reportedly the result of OPEC’s third-largest producer being unable to bring dollars or euros in exchange for crude because of “banking problems,” which, according to the spokesman, means Iran is open to alternative means of payment, including medical equipment and agricultural products.Concerning this week's heightened rhetoric over the Straight of Hormuz, should the IRGC attempt to block it, such a drastic retaliatory measure would most certainly spark war in the Persian Gulf.

June 28, 2018Italy stalls EU summit with block on joint conclusions‘Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,’ says Italian official.

Italy’s new populist government sabotaged its first EU summit on Thursday, as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte blocked all joint decisions ahead of a controversial dinner discussion on migration, several officials said.Conte’s refusal to accept the joint Council conclusions — written statements agreed by all leaders — even on noncontroversial topics prompted EU officials to scrap a planned evening news conference.Italy had expressed its dismay over the trajectory of the migration discussion, but Conte’s move to stall the entire summit caught other leaders off-guard.According to one official observing the discussions, other leaders urged him not to block the other issues on which there appeared to be consensus — including strengthening defense cooperation, pursuing legislation that promotes digital innovation, and speeding work on the EU’s next long-term budget — by linking them to the divisive migration debate.The Italians are deeply angry that the discussion of migration policy has shifted in recent days away from its own concerns over the burden on frontline countries and focused instead on so-called “secondary movements,” which had created a domestic political crisis for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.The migration discussion was scheduled to be held over dinner — the time leaders traditionally reserve for their most difficult summit debates.Council President Donald Tusk and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had scheduled a pre-dinner news conference where they planned to announce the agreement on other issues. But with Conte blocking everything, the news conference was cancelled.“As one member reserved their position on the entire conclusions, no conclusions have been agreed at this stage,” said a Council spokesperson, “For this reason, the press conference by the EU institutional representatives has been canceled and will instead take place tomorrow after the end of the Euro Summit.”

Juanita Broaddrick, who says Bill Clinton raped her in 1978, has had her top-selling book pulled from the Kindle Store.The print version of the bowww.infowars.com/top-selling-book-on-bill-clinton-rape-pulled-from-amazons-kindle-store/ok, You’d Better Put Some Ice On That: How I Survived Being Raped by Bill Clinton, is still for sale but the e-book that was #1 on Kindle is no longer available.In a June 12 Facebook post, Broaddrick asked if Amazon was “deliberately trying to silence” her book, noting that Amazon owns the publisher they blamed for the book’s disappearance.The censorship of the book is another example of how digital content can be easily wiped from existence by modern-day book burners.This isn’t the first time Amazon has been accused of politically motivated tampering, specifically benefiting the Clintons.In 2017, Amazon deleted 800 one-star reviews on Hillary Clinton’s book What Happened, leaving the publication with a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.“We have never been given an explanation,” Broaddrick told PJ Media. “How does it sell 1000 Kindle [books] with no complaints and all of a sudden it’s all wrong?” she asked.She also pointed out the suspicious timing of the move as Bill Clinton was recently criticized for saying, “Norms have changed in terms of what you can do to somebody against their will,” during an interview with PBS.A recent Rasmussen poll shows over half of the country now thinks Bill Clinton is a sexual predator.

June 13 2018A Muslim millionaire who gave all his money to charity has passed away from cancerby Jake Hall in news

It was back in 2015 that Muslim millionaire Ali Banat was diagnosed with cancer, a diagnosis which he used as a catalyst to use his wealth to enact positive change.He was initially told he had only seven months to live, but Banat - from Sydney, Australia - eventually survived for more than two years longer than doctors predicted. He passed awayearlier this week, but the philanthropist and former businessman has spent the last few years raising money for underprivileged Muslims around the world, while also battling his terminal illness.In the years prior to his diagnosis, Banat lived a luxurious life filled with fast cars, expensive clothing and countless other material possessions, but once he realised he was sick, he said he realised he had been chasing the wrong goals.In a short documentary uploaded to YouTube channel OnePath Network, Ali describes his illness as a "gift".When questioned on his choice of language, he responds:It's a gift because Allah has given me a chance to change.Upon receiving his diagnosis, Banat immediately sold his business and travelled to Togo, Africa, a country in which approximately 55 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. Things have, however, improved since 2008, when UNICEF reported 80 per cent living in poverty.The country also has a large Muslim population - statistics vary, but it's estimated that between 12 and 20 per cent of the population identify as Muslim. Moved by his journey, Benat quickly decided to use his money to build a Masjid (a place of religious worship) as well as a school for local children; he then expanded his scope and established a project, Muslims Around The World (MATW).The project has numerous other aims, all of which are outlined on its official GoFundMe page; not only is a new village being proposed to house 200 widows, a mini medical centre and a series of businesses intended to support the local community will also be created.All funds will be spread amongst three projects, all of which are intended to create sustainable solutions to impoverishment.Over the last three years alone almost £600,000 has been raised, and more donations are now being made to honour Banat's memory.

Early in 1968, Clyde Tolson, F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover’s deputy and bosom buddy, a key player in the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., expressed both the hope and intent of those making sure that there would never be another president by the name Kennedy, when he said about RFK that “I hope someone shoots and kills the son of a bitch.” Earlier, as reported by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in his new book, American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family, the influential conservative Westbrook Pegler expressed this hope even more depravingly when he wished “that some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter [Robert Kennedy’s] spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies.”

These sick men were not alone. Senator Robert Kennedy was a marked man. And he knew it. That he was nevertheless willing to stand up to the forces of hate and violence that were killing innocents at home and abroad is a testimony to his incredible courage and love of country. To honor such a man requires that we discover and speak the truth about those who killed him. The propaganda that he was killed by a crazed young Arab needs exposure.When he was assassinated by a bullet to the back of his head on June 5, 1968, not by the accused patsy Sirhan Sirhan, who was standing in front of RFK, but by a conspiracy that clearly implicates U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, not only did a precious and good man die, but so too did any chance for significant political change through the official political system, short of a miracle. We are still waiting for such a miracle.Robert F. Kennedy’s death, following as it did the assassination by U.S. government forces of Dr. Martin Luther King two months earlier, marked an emphatic end to the sense of hope that marked the election to the presidency of his brother John in 1960. Henceforth, efforts to change the political system from within became moot; the coup d’état effected on November 22, 1963 with the CIA’s assassination of JFK was signed and sealed. RFK’s murder added the period to this sentence of rule by murderous deep state forces. And despite valiant efforts of dissent from outside the system since, the systemic war machine has rolled on and the economic stranglehold of the elites has tightened over the decades. An RFK presidency was this country’s last chance from within to save itself from the tyranny that has ensued.We now live in a country that would be unrecognizable to anyone who died prior to 1968. All protest has become symbolic as the American Empire has expanded abroad through countless ongoing wars, coups and the undermining of foreign governments; civil liberties have been eviscerated; the wealthy elites, ably assisted by a corrupt political establishment, have made a mockery of economic justice; an endless war on terror and a national emergency engendered by the insider attacks of September 11, 2001 and enshrined in public consciousness with the planted emergency telephonic meme of 9/11 have been instituted to justify massive profits for the military-industrial complex; and a new and very dangerous Cold War with Russia has been resurrected to threaten the world with nuclear annihilation.All this and more has vigorously been supported by every U.S. President since, Democrats as well as Republicans, with no exceptions, including the icons of the neo-liberals, Clinton and Obama, who have bombed and droned the world wide, smiling all the way. We live in very dark times indeed. If significant change ever comes to the United States, it will be a result of pressures from without, for the political system is rotten to the core, and almost without exception our political leaders are cowards and liars. This seems obviously true to me, though it pains me to admit it.Fifty years have passed since RFK’s murder, and for those fifty years very few Americans have thought to question what is a conspicuous conspiracy. It is as though a painful exhaustion or a veil of denial set in in 1968, a year in which 536,000 plus American troops were waging war against the Vietnamese and the slaughter was horrendous. Body bags and slaughtered Vietnamese filled the TV screens. Chicago cops rioted and beat antiwar demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. American cities were exploding. Then the “peace candidate” Nixon, together with Kissinger, assumed the mantle of power only to increase the horror. War criminals ruled. It was a year when mere anarchy was loosed upon the world and the truth of Robert Kennedy’s assassination was lost in the storm. The manifest truth became latent, and there it has remained for most people all these years. All most people “know” is that RFK was assassinated by a crazy Arab guy. His name? Oh yeah, Sirhan Sirhan or something like that. It was so long ago and, anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore.But it does matter greatly. Unless we choose to remain children forever, children in denial of the truth of their childhood traumas, the truth about RFK’s murder will haunt us and poison any hope we still might harbor for our country. Killers seized the levers of power with the murders of JFK, MLK, and RFK (and Malcolm X, Thomas Merton, et al.), and they have never relinquished them.It is time that each of us decide: Do we stand with the killers or their victims?Finally a Kennedy family member has spoken out on the case. As reported by Tom Jackman in The Washington Post, May 27, 2018, Robert f. Kennedy, Jr., after studying the case at the instigation of Paul Schrade, RFK’s assistant, who was the first person shot that night, and visiting Sirhan in prison, has publicly said that he doesn’t think Sirhan killed his father and has called for a reinvestigation of the case, a most mild request. Who will do the reinvestigation? The authorities in the government and press that have covered up the truth for fifty years? Nevertheless, Jackman’s article and RFK, Jr.’s statement bring needed attention to the assassination while focusing on the fact of a second gunman and therefore a conspiracy. Its focus is on the ballistics of the case, which are of course crucial. (full story)

'Twenty-seven people in DRC have died this month from the Ebola outbreak'

​by aljazeera.com​

An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Democratic Republic of Congo has the clear "potential to expand" as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise, the World Health Organization warned.Health workers' response is on an "epidemiological knife's edge" after the number of people stricken with Ebola in the DRC rose to 28 since an outbreak was detected earlier this month, said WHO Deputy Director Peter Salama, in comments made on Wednesday at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Seven of the confirmed cases were in urban settings."The next few weeks will really tell if this outbreak is going to expand to urban areas or if we're going to be able to keep it under control," Salama said. Following the meeting, Salama told AFP news agency the outbreak "could go either way" in coming weeks. "We are working around the clock to make sure it [goes] in the right direction," he said.

The average fatality rate among those infected with Ebola, which has no proven cure, is about 50 percent, according to WHO. DRC's most recent Ebola outbreak - its ninth since the disease was first identified in 1976 - initially appeared to be confined in a rural setting near the town of Bikoro, in the central African nation's northwestern Equateur Province. But a confirmed instance of the virus last week in the city of Mbandaka, home to 1.2 million people and about 150km away from Bikoro, plunged the ongoing crisis into a "new phase", the DRC's Health Minister Oly Ilunga said last week. Twenty-seven people have died and at least 58 others in DRC's northwest have shown Ebola symptoms since it was identified on May 8, according to the health ministry.

Health ministry spokeswoman Jessica Ilunga said the figures amounted to "the normal evolution of an outbreak". "As soon as you have a few confirmed cases, the persons who have been in contact with them are at risk. We knew there was a risk of more cases coming in," Ilunga told Al Jazeera. "What we are trying to do first is contain the outbreak so that it doesn't spread towards other urban centres in the DRC."

Regional response -On Wednesday, WHO said it would work with nine countries neighbouring DRC in a bid to prevent the virus spreading across borders. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO director for Africa, told the conference Central African Republic and Republic of Congo were the organisation's top priority countries because of their proximity. Efforts to detect and stem a possible cross-border spread would also be rolled out in Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda, Moeti said.The WHO has sent 7,540 experimental vaccines to DRC so far. It will send another 8,000 doses, made by pharmaceutical firm Merck, over the next few days. Though unlicensed, the experimental vaccine proved effective when used in trials in West Africa between 2013-2016 during an Ebola outbreak, which killed about 11,300 people as it surged through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.'Break the transmission chain'Ilunga said the vaccinations were a vital part of the DRC's strategy to combat the latest emergence of the disease. "Ebola has a 21-day incubation period, so as soon as you have confirmed cases you know that in the following three weeks more cases might appear," she told Al Jazeera. "That's why vaccination is really important in this Ebola response, simply because it will allow us to vaccinate and protect the circles of people who were in contact with those who were, or are, infected and break the disease's transmission chain."Ebola, which can cause multiple organ failure, is passed from human to human by contact through the mouth, nose, or broken skin with blood or other bodily fluids of those infected.

by PressTVChina’s state-owned CNPC is set to take over a leading role held by Total in a huge gas project in Iran in case the French energy giant decides to quit amid US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.China’s state-owned CNPC is set to take over a leading role held by Total in a huge gas project in Iran in case the French energy giant decides to quit amid US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.Reuters in a report quoted industry sources as saying that it was not clear if CNPC had received approvals from Beijing to do so. However, they said chances that the move could strain relations between the US and China were already high."The possibility of Total's pullout is quite high now, and in that scenario CNPC will be ready to take it over fully," Reuters quoted a senior state oil official with knowledge of the contract as saying.It also quoted an executive with direct knowledge of the project as adding that planning began "the day the investment was approved.""CNPC foresaw a high probability of a reimposition of (US) sanctions," the executive said.All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.Reuters had also last December said CNPC had already started talks with Iran over replacing Total in South Pars.Under the terms of the agreement to develop Phase 11 of South Pars, CNPC could take over Total's 50.1 percent stake and become operator of the project.CNPC already holds a 30 percent stake in the field, while Iranian national oil company subsidiary Petropars holds the remaining 19.9 percent.So far, the Chinese oil giant, which already operates two oil fields in Iran, has spent about $20 million on planning to develop the field, Reuters further quoted the sources as saying.The news agency further quoted another source close to Total as saying that the French company was analyzing the impact of new sanctions and whether it could get a waiver that would allow it to keep its stake.CNPC is prepared to use its banking unit Bank of Kunlun Ltd as a funding and clearing vehicle if it takes over operation of South Pars, a senior state oil official was quoted as saying.The bank was used to settle tens of billions of dollars worth of oil imports during the UN sanctions against Tehran between 2012 and 2015, the official added.Most of the bank's settlements during that time were in euros and Chinese renminbi. The US Treasury sanctioned Kunlun in 2012 for conducting business with Iran.If CNPC goes ahead, it would also likely have to develop crucial equipment, such as large-powered compressors needed for developing gas deposits on this scale, on its own.Leading manufacturers like U.S. firm GE and Germany's Siemens could be barred from supplying to Iran under US sanctions, Reuters concluded.

​Scholars who attempt to elucidate the crime perpetrated on 9/11 – who are commonly referred to as 9/11 truthers – are often criticized for relying on conjecture and speculation in support of their claims. Such criticism may at times be justified, though often made in bad faith. There is actually no need to resort to speculative arguments that the official account of 9/11 is a fraud since there are hard facts that support this conclusion. Here are 10 such undisputed facts:1. U.S. authorities have failed to trace, arrest, try (prosecute), and punish anyone responsible for the crime against humanity committed on 9/11.The mass murder committed on September 11, 2001 represents, under international law, a crime against humanity. The State where it was committed – in this case the United States of America – bears the obligation to the international community to trace, arrest, try, and punish individuals responsible for that crime.Since 2002, U.S. authorities admit they have detained a handful of persons at Guantánamo Bay who are accused of helping to orchestrate 9/11. Their identities remain in doubt; their alleged confessions were made behind closed doors; and their trial by a military court does not fulfill minimal international norms of due process.U.S. authorities claim to have sentenced Zacarias Moussaoui to life imprisonment for not having warned the FBI about the preparations for 9/11, an allegation he denied. No evidence was presented that he was involved in the preparations for 9/11 or knew anything about these preparations. No evidence was presented that he even knew the alleged hijackers. U.S. authorities also claim to hold, since 2003, a man by the name of Khalid Sheikh Mohamed (KSM) in Guantánamo who allegedly confessed to have masterminded 9/11 and more than 30 other terrorist operations. He also allegedly confessed to having planned an attack on a bank in Washington State that did not exist until after he was already in Guantánamo. The man, whose identity remains murky and whose connection to 9/11 is limited to what he said in his ludicrous confession, has not been prosecuted, let alone sentenced. No one seriously expects him to be ever brought to trial, let alone a trial fulfilling international norms.2. When announcing to the United Nations their decision to attack Afghanistan, U.S. authorities failed to provide evidence that the crime of 9/11 was in any way connected to Afghanistan. In fact, such evidence has still not been produced.

See the letter from U.S. Representative John Negroponte to the President of the UN Security Council, October 7, 2001 (mirrored on www.aldeilis.net/fake/569.pdf).3. The United States government did not authorize an investigation of the events of 9/11 that could have fulfilled minimal international standards: The 9/11 Commission was neither independent nor impartial, and its investigation was neither thorough nor transparent.Regarding minimal standards of investigation, see Elias Davidsson, “The Events of 11 September 2001 and the Right to the Truth.” (https://www.scribd.com/document/59150870/Right-to-the-Truth or http://aldeilis.net/terror/1918.pdf)4. Despite vilifying Osama bin Laden as a terrorist leader, judicial authorities in the United States have failed to charge him in connection with 9/11. He was not even wanted in connection with this crime.The FBI admitted in June 2006 that it possesses no concrete evidence linking Osama bin Laden to 9/11. (See; Ed Haas, “FBI says, it has no ‘hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11,” Information Clearing House, June 18, 2006, mirrored on www.aldeilis.net/fake/853.pdf)5. Authorities in the United States have failed to produce clear and convincing evidence that the 19 persons named by the FBI as 9/11 hijackers even boarded aircraft that they are alleged to have subsequently hijacked. To be precise: U.S. authorities have failed to produce authenticated passenger lists that would include the names of the alleged hijackers; witnesses who saw these alleged hijackers in the airports or boarding the aircraft; authenticated security-camera videos proving their presence in the airports of departure; and DNA identification of these individuals’ bodily remains (see detailed analysis in Elias Davidsson, Hijacking America’s Mind on 9/11 [Algora Publishers, New York, 2013], Chapter 2).6. U.S. authorities have failed to produce clear and convincing evidence that passenger airliners crashed at the known landmarks on 9/11.

The FBI admitted in a letter to the Nevada District U.S. Court on March 14, 2008, signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Rose, that records detailing the collection and positive identification of the wreckage of the crashed aircraft do not exist (Letter mirrored on www.aldeilis.net/fake/1083.pdf). He thus admitted that the FBI failed to formally identify the wreckage found at the various crash sites as belonging to the allegedly hijacked aircraft. It is, therefore, not established that the allegedly hijacked aircraft crashed at these locations.7. U.S. authorities have failed to explain why more than 1,100 persons, who were present at the World Trade Center on 9/11, vanished into thin air.Vast parts of the Twin Towers were literally pulverized as can be seen from video recordings, photos, and testimonies. Of more than 1,100 missing persons, not a single tooth, nail, or bone has been found as of 2011 (See, inter alia, Anemona Hartocollis, “Connecting with lost loved ones, if only by the tips of fingers,” The New York Times, September 11, 2011 [mirrored on www.aldeilis.net/fake/616.pdf]). U.S. authorities have never explained what could have caused more than 1,100 persons to vanish without leaving a trace. They bear the obligation, under human rights law, to determine the reason for such disappearances.8. U.S. authorities compensated families of 9/11 victims that agreed to waive their right to further court action. The compensation exceeded by at least seven times what was paid to the families of firefighters who died in rescue operations on 9/11.The families of 9/11 victims received from the U.S. Compensation Fund, established in October 2001, an average of $2.1 million if they agreed to waive their right to engage in civil proceedings (see, inter alia, Brian Bernbaum, “9/11 Fund Chief Faults Payments,” CBS News, 4.9.2003 [mirrored on www.aldeilis.net/terror/951.pdf]). As of 2013, spouses of firefighters who die in line of duty can obtain $333,605 under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Act (42 U.S.C. 3796). The figure for 2001 was undoubtedly lower. The 95 families, who did not apply to the Compensation Fund and preferred to let courts determine their rights, obtained an average of $5.5 million in out-of-court settlements (see, Ashby Jones, “The 9/11 Victim Settlements: A Chat with Skadden’s Sheila Birnbaum,” The Wall Street Journal, 13.3.2009 [mirrored on www.aldeilis.net/terror/959.pdf]).9. U.S. authorities have failed to explain the effect of numerous military drills conducted on the morning of 9/11 – including the simulation of aircraft hijackings – on the commission of the mass murder.Military drills caused confusion and surprised military and civilian personnel responsible for air traffic, as reported in U.S. media. For example, NORAD Major General Larry Arnold said that, “By the end of the day, we had twenty-one aircraft identified as possible hijackings.” (See, Eric Hehs, “Conversation with Major General Larry Arnold,” One Magazine, January 2002 [mirrored on www.aldeilis.net/fake/1052.pdf ]). Colonel Robert Marr, NEADS battle commander, said he had been told that across the nation there were “29 different reports of hijackings.” (See, Robert A. Baker, “Commander of 9/11 Air Defenses Retires,” Newhouse News Service, March 31, 2005 [mirrored on www.aldeilis.net/fake/1049.pdf ]). U.S. authorities failed to explain how these drills affected the commission of the crime, including the apparent failure to intercept hijacked aircraft.10. U.S. authorities promoted numerous officials who, according to the official account on 9/11, had failed to carry out their duties with regard to 9/11. Not a single person has been held accountable anywhere in government for what went wrong on or prior to 9/11.Here are few examples: Richard Myers, in charge of the Pentagon on 9/11, was promoted to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on October 1, 2001; Ralph Eberhart, in charge of NORAD on 9/11, was promoted to head the new “Northern Command” a year after 9/11; Captain Charles J. Leidig, acting NMCC Director on 9/11, was promoted in 2004 to the rank of admiral; Brigadier General Montague Winfield, who on 9/11 was in charge of the National Military Command Center (NMCC), was promoted in May 2003 to the two-star rank of major general; Marion (Spike) Bowman, who blocked FBI investigations into the alleged hijackers before 9/11, was given an award for “exceptional performance” after a 9/11 Congressional Inquiry report claimed that his unit gave Minneapolis FBI agents “inexcusably confused and inaccurate information” that was “patently false.”ConclusionThe above facts are sufficient to reject the official account of 9/11 and consider the administration of President George W. Bush as the main suspect for this crime against humanity. While the facts are not sufficient for leveling criminal charges against specific individuals, they permit general conclusions to be drawn regarding the dangerous nature of the U.S. regime and the complicity of the political class, mainstream media, academia, and the justice system of NATO member states in covering-up the crime of 9/11 and shielding those responsible for that crime.

"The single market benefits manufacturers far more than providers of services. Guess which Britain excels in?"

[This article was first published on April 8th, 2018 in the Guardian but significantly clarifies the huge trade imbalance between the EU and UK today and thus is republished here for emphasis]

Not since the early 1980s has the UK run a surplus on goods. At the last count the annual deficit was £135bn.At the time it was big, big news. Three days before the general election, official figures showed that Britain’s trade had taken a marked turn for the worse. Government claims that the economy was healthy took a knock.That was June 1970, a time when the size of Britain’s trade gap was front page stuff. Headlines screamed about the UK being back in the red. The TV news bulletins were full of it. Harold Wilson is supposed to have blamed it – along with England’s defeat by West Germany in the World Cup – for his unexpected defeat at the hands of Ted Heath the following Thursday. All this for a trade deficit of just £31m, distorted by the arrival in Britain of a couple of Boeing’s new jumbo jets.Times have changed and it’s a fair bet that when the latest set of trade figuresare released on Wednesday they will not generate nearly so much interest, even though Britain’s performance has grown steadily worse over the subsequent decades. In 1970 as a whole, the trade deficit averaged 0.2% of GDP – a performance that today would be greeted with jubilation rather than despair. Not since the early 1980s has the UK run a surplus on goods, and at the last count the annual deficit was running at £135bn. The deficit in manufactured products alone stood at £95bn.For the first time in ages, however, there has been a stirring of interest in trade. Donald Trump is obviously one reason for that. The protectionist in the White House has spent the past week ratcheting up the pressure on China. The risk of a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies looms much larger than it did. Brexit has also moved trade up the political agenda. Forty-three per cent of the UK’s exports in 2016 went to other EU countries, and business groups are keen to ensure that post-departure impediments to trade are kept to a minimum.Britain’s trade performance with the rest of the EU has been woeful. According to data produced by the House of Commons library, it has run a trade deficit in goods and services combined in every year since 1999. What’s more, the deficit is getting bigger over time, doubling from £41bn to £82bn between 2012 and 2016. The UK’s trading performance with the rest of the world has been better. Exports and imports were broadly in balance from 1999 to 2011 but since 2012 there has been a fivefold increase in the surplus from £8bn to £39bn.The economist Christopher Smallwood has been looking at what has been happening to the UK’s manufacturing trade deficit since 2005. He finds that almost all sectors are running a bigger deficit. The deficit with Germany has increased by 5% a year, with France by 7% a year and with the rest of the EU by 11% a year. Smallwood says the UK’s trade performance has deteriorated because the single market and the customs union are designed to suit other countries, Germany in particular, but not Britain.“It is not surprising that our trade deficit with the EU continues to grow, because the single market and customs union does not represent a free trade area. It is a free trade area only in goods. Manufactured goods represent Germany’s comparative advantage, whereas ours is in services.“We have entered into a lop-sided arrangement under which all impediments to trade have been removed from areas where our trading partners are strong but not from areas where we are strong. So obviously our overall trade deficit with them has gone on rising, and will continue to do so.”Q&AWhat is productivity and why does it matter?ShowThis argument is supported by the data. Britain runs a surplus in services with the EU and while it has been growing it has not been doing so nearly fast enough to offset a growing deficit in goods, especially manufactured goods. What’s more, the trend will continue unless EU barriers to trade in services are removed. Inevitably, life will be easier for exporters of EU manufactured goods to the UK than it will be for exporters of UK services to the EU.Trade deficits have consequences. The need to finance them means there will be upward pressure on interest rates. Productivity growth, which depends on a thriving manufacturing sector, will be lower than it would otherwise would be. Workers who lose their jobs in industry will be decanted into low-wage, low-skill sectors.Clearly, the UK’s whopping trade deficit is the result of a range of factors. High interest rates, an over-valued currency, a culture of short-termism, poor management and unwillingness to invest in new machinery and skills have all played a part. It would fly in the face of the evidence to suggest that the trade deficit is simply a function of being a member of the single market and the customs union.Equally, it is hard to deny that other countries are doing rather better out of the current trading arrangements. Britain’s trade deficit for goods and services combined with the EU is 4% of GDP and rising. More than two-thirds of the deficit in goods is with the EU. The surplus in services is around a sixth of the deficit in goods.Business groups say that leaving the single market and the customs’ union will make matters even worse, but imagine the UK on the outside weighing up the pros and cons of joining a club where the trading rules amplified our weaknesses and nullified our strengths. Would we really be gagging to join?

November 17, 2018'Things moving ON MONDAY!' Brexiteer MP warns May 90 percent of Tories want her OUT

BREXITEER MP Nadine Dorries claimed Conservatives could announce a no confidence vote on Theresa May on Monday as she suggested "90 percent" of the party do not want the Prime Minister to remain in charge of the country.

It has emerged at least 22 MPs have posted a letter of no confidence in Theresa May to the chair of the backbenchers' 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady – with some reports suggesting more have been sent. Brexiteers in the party have denounced the Prime Minister after she revealed the Government had agreed to sign into a UK-wide backstop to keep Britain in the customs union and single market if no solution is found to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland. Nadine Dorries joined colleagues Jacob Rees-Mogg and Mark Francois in demanding Mrs May step down and allow a pro-Brexit Tory to take the reins of the negotiations. RELATED ARTICLESOnly Sir Graham is aware of the real number of letters of no confidence lodged bur Mrs Dorries suggested an announcement on the future of Theresa May could be made as early as Monday.Speaking to Sky News, the Mid Bedfordshire MP said: "What Mr Brady wants to do, possibly, on Monday is to contact people who have submitted their letters to see if they still want to leave their letters submitted."And then I think we’ll probably see things moving on Monday."Ms Dorries reiterated Conservatives are in a "very sad place" but insisted MPs did not feel confident about keeping Mrs May in her position with the looming risk of a general election in the coming months hanging over the head of the party. Mrs Dorries claimed "90 percent" of her colleagues would prefer to see the Prime Minister go. She continued: "In a leadership vote or a vote of confidence in the existing Prime Minister, if she won that vote it would mean she would be secure in that position for 12 months."Given what we’re facing with the DUP very unhappy, we could end up in general election territory at any time. If the DUP walk away we have no majority. Therefore, by default, we would be going into a general election with Theresa May leading us into that election."You need half of the Conservative Party to vote not with her for a vote of no-confidence but I think you will find 90 percent of the Conservative Party, if not more, MPs who do not want the scenario of a general election unplanned and with Theresa May leading us into that general election."In his letter of no-confidence, the deputy chairman of the eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) Mark Francois accused the Prime Minister of "not listening" to the concerns voiced by the Brexiteers in her party. Mr Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford in Essex, wrote in his letter: “The Prime Minister has been surrounded throughout this process by a Pretorian Guard of highly pro-European senior civil servants who, I believe, have never accepted the result of the referendum. “Instead they have helped to steer the negotiations in such a way that means, quite simply, we will not, in fact, leave the European Union but effectively remain within it.“This is a betrayal of the decision of 17.4million British people and the clear instruction that was given to all MPs by them in the referendum.“Now that the details of the deal are available we can see how truly awful it is.”Under the terms of the UK-wide backstop, Britain would be in a customs union with Brussels and therefore have to follow EU trade rules and be unable to sign independent trade deals in order to maintain a frictionless border.Former minister James Duddridge has suggested the number of letters required to trigger a vote may have already been reached but 48 hours will pass before Sir Graham makes the announcement public.Mr Duddridge, who submitted his own letter during the Tory Conference in October, said: “I think I recall Brady said he will give the PM 48 hours notice before going public."We may have hit the 48 letters but no announcement."

While Tucker Carlson was on the air in the Washington, DC, FOX News studio on Wednesday night, a mob of Antifa thugs assembled outside of his home and threatened him and his family.The group that did this is Smash Racism DC, the same folks who harassed Ted Cruz and his wife at a restaurant last month.Peter Hasson of the Daily Caller broke the story:A Mob Showed Up Outside Tucker Carlson’s House and Ordered Him to ‘Leave Town’A left-wing mob showed up outside Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s house Wednesday evening, posted pictures of his address online and demanded that he flee the city of Washington, D.C.Carlson, a co-founder of The Daily Caller and host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” was at the Fox News studio when the angry crowd showed up outside of his house.At least one of the protesters went all the way up to Carlson’s front door, where they left a sign with his family’s home address written on it and rang his doorbell.Video of the group, “Smash Racism DC,” shows one of the mob’s ringleaders leading the crowd in chants of “racist scumbag, leave town!” and “Tucker Carlson, we will fight! We know where you sleep at night!”The group posted a picture of the sign with the Carlson family’s address on it to Twitter.“Tucker Carlson, you cannot hide from the people you hurt with your rhetoric, your lies, and your hate,” the group wrote on Twitter, adding the hashtag “#KnockKnockTucker.”Twitter removed the tweet with Carlson’s address after an inquiry from The Daily Caller News Foundation.Carlson spoke to The Washington Post:“I called my wife,” Carlson told The Washington Post in a phone interview. “She had been in the kitchen alone getting ready to go to dinner and she heard pounding on the front door and screaming. … Someone started throwing himself against the front door and actually cracked the front door.”His wife, thinking it was a home invasion, locked herself in the pantry and called 911, Carlson said. The couple have four children, but none were home at the time.“It wasn’t a protest. It was a threat,” said Carlson, who is often denounced by critics, particularly liberal critics, for inflammatory rhetoric about immigrants and minorities on his Fox News show. “They weren’t protesting anything specific that I had said. They weren’t asking me to change anything. They weren’t protesting a policy or advocating for legislation. … They were threatening me and my family and telling me to leave my own neighborhood in the city that I grew up in.”The group proudly posted video of their actions on Twitter but they have since been removed. One video shows a person from the mob approaching the front door and then another speaking through a megaphone. Finally, the crowd begins chanting: “Tucker Carlson, we will fight! We know where you sleep at night!”

By Joe Jarvis Via The Daily Bell242 years ago American colonists declared independence from England, in the name of personal liberty.What would it take for Americans to once again declare independence from an oppressive government?For the colonists, it was excessive taxation without representation. It was also that English soldiers were quartered in their homes, as an occupying army. The English attempted to disarm them and shot into a crowd killing five in the lead up to the American Revolution.Well, entire volumes could be written about the abuses Americans suffer at the hands of the government today.But one especially egregious violation of rights is the state kidnapping children without due process.No, I am not talking about immigrant children at the border.(That is another whole topic, though I will weigh in briefly to say every human being who sets foot on American soil should have the right to due process and the rights of the accused.)I am talking about Child Protective Services.Has there ever been a more justifiable cause for revolution, than the state kidnapping your children?Growing Abuse of Parents’ RightsWhen a serious crime is committed against a child by his or her parents, of course it is right to remove that parent’s access to the child. The way society is currently organized, that responsibility falls to the government.But in the United States, you are innocent until proven guilty. If you have committed a crime, you are afforded due process.If the crime is serious enough, yes, you can be held in prison pending trial. Obviously, this removes your access to the victim. But accused criminals still have rights. Due process means going through various channels to make sure the government has a legitimate reason to search your home, arrest you, charge you, and sentence you if you are convicted.Yet a father was told by Child Protective Services in Mississippi that they did not need a warrant to search his home.His nightmare began when a Mississippi social worker, Kyra Reed (who also goes by Kyra Carson), knocked on his door demanding entrance without a warrant. Chambers was never told what the charges were. “She didn’t tell me what I was accused of and demanded to interview my 6-year-old daughter without my presence,” Chambers told PJM. “I told her that was unacceptable, but she was more than welcome to talk to her with me there without me interfering. She seemed perturbed, but accepted that. She then told me she wanted to search my house,” said Chambers. “I told her I had no problem with that, but wanted her to get a court order or a warrant as I am a bit of a constitutionalist and would just feel better having that respected. She was immediately angry. She hopped in her car without another word and drove off.”The CPS agent then showed up with two sheriff’s deputies who were apparently meant to intimidate Michael Chambers into abandoning his rights. However he once again politely asked to see the warrant, which did not exist. The Sheriffs said they would not illegally search the home and the three left.For this, the state retaliated.According to Chambers, “She [Kyra Reed] told me that if I made her get a warrant, she would take my child instead.” Reed left again, unable to obtain illegal entry. But she didn’t stay away. “She returned with another sheriff’s deputy,” said Chambers. “I answered the door thinking that surely she would have [the warrant] this time and hopefully, we could just get this done and over with. I was instead handed a subpoena to appear in court in the morning and was told that they had taken my child from school.” No warrant was ever obtained.PJM reached out to the sheriff of Warren County and was told that no warrant is necessary for CPS to take a child, but they would need a warrant to search a private home.No warrant needed to take a child from a parent!No charges. All the state had were calls from his apparently crazy ex who used their child as a thumb screw. He was not even told what crime he was suspected of until his child had already been taken.The state appears to have invented an incident as justification for the kidnapping. They said Chambers went to his daughter’s school and caused a scene yelling, “I love Hitler!”The school could produce no evidence of this, however–no videos, no recording, no witnesses. The school also gave false information when freedom of information requests were filed about the alleged incident.The Sheriff wrote and signed a letter that he found no reports where Michael Chambers was ever named as a suspect, witness, or complainant at the elementary school. CPS appears to have made the incident up.However, even in the unlikely event that the incident happened, this is still not just cause to take a child without due process.[Judge] John Price, dismissed all charges of abuse and neglect against Michael Chambers in a subsequent hearing but placed Bell with her mother, whom she has not seen in four years, with no explanation or investigation into her suitability as a parent. Lawyers involved in the case said they had never seen any action like it and that the judge’s order might even be illegal.Even worse is that Chambers daughter told him she was abused by other children while in foster care. And as you will see below, this too is unfortunately not uncommon.Widespread AbuseIt might be tempting to write this off as some crazy rogue agent from the backwaters of the deep south.But unfortunately, this is happening all over the country.Sovereignman reports about a particularly tyrannical family court Judge, Lyris Younge of Pennsylvania.First, she removed a baby from her parents in an attempt to force a confession.There was no evidence of abuse. But when neither parent would “cop to it,” as Judge Younge phrased it, she removed the baby from their custody. She refused to place the baby with a willing and fit grandmother, and eventually terminated parental rights altogether.This went on for two years until last month, a higher court reversed all her decisions. The court issued a scathing rebuke of Judge Younge noting that she violated due process, failed to remain impartial, and had intentionally caused alienation of the family members in an attempt to force a confession.Still, the Judge escaped punishment for her crimes. The appeals court simply suggested she recuse herself from the case.But this was far from an isolated event.On June 8th, a Judge reversed yet another of Younge’s cases. Again, the court found that Younge violated the due process rights of the children and parents, while failing to act in the best interests of the children. The Judge said there was no risk to the health or wellbeing of the children if they stayed in the home, and therefore grounds for removal were unfounded.This time, Younge seemed motivated to take the children from their mother because the hearing lasted until six o’clock in the evening.Younge interrupted the counsel multiple times to remark about the late hour, apparently less concerned for the children and more concerned that she was working late.Reading the case, the mother in question certainly doesn’t seem like mother of the year. But the main reasons she found herself in family court with the custody of her children at stake was because her children missed too many days of school, and because she tested positive for marijuana.Yet at the hearing in which custody was removed, evidence showed clean drug tests except for one marijuana “relapse.” The mother had also reduced the number of unexcused absences for her children from 72 the previous year, to merely 6 missed days of school.So just like that, one woman’s decision tore another family apart.What this means:Forget the question, why is she still in court? Why is Judge Lyris Younge not in prison?!The state Conduct Board began an investigation in May, and protesters amassed outside the courthouse to call for Judge Younge’s removal.Another Judge took over Judge Younge’s cases. Yet the explanation was simply that Younge was taking an “extended chambers week” to write rulings. Taking time out of court to write rulings is normal, but having another Judge take over ongoing cases is not…Judge Younge is still however employed–and continues to be paid–by the court.Everyday in her court was a nightmare for parents. She decided the fate of families based entirely on her biases and whims. Some hadn’t even broken the law, but that did not stop Younge from taking their rights, and taking their children.Luckily Younge has now been reassigned out of family court, so at least she cannot victimize any more families. But what about punishment? Surely Younge’s behavior is as egregious as the British officials who administered the abuses of the colonists before the revolution.But even if Younge was tarred and feathered–or better yet drawn and quartered–this does not address the underlying problem. The state has far too much power, and regularly abuses it.Federal Incentive for KidnappingA Clinton era federal law called the Adoption of Safe Families Act hands out federal funds to states based on the number of children the state takes from parents. So abusive Child Protective Service agencies can be a nice source of revenue for states. They receive about $6,000 per child per month, while foster parents get about $600.The law also gives states more power to split up families, take children permanently, and put them up for adoption. Some even see the sinister underpinnings of the law enabling child trafficking. This certainly wouldn’t be the first time the Clintons were associated with such horrors.So we are left with runaway state agencies, protected and funded by the federal government.They have the power to take your children, without due process, without a warrant, without charging you with a crime.Remind me again when the colonists starting shooting?

England's World Cup kit sells for £160, but is made in a factory in Bangladesh where workers are paid as little as 21p an hour, it is claimed.The official Nike shirt and shorts, part of the most expensive England kit ever, are reportedly made at a factory inside a government-controlled zone where female garment workers are paid as little as £1.68 a day.The Daily Telegraph uncovered evidence of staff in Savar, near the capital Dhaka, working 60 hours a week.In 2016, the FA gave Nike a 12-year contract extension worth £400 million.MP Jo Stevens, a Labour member of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, called for an investigation.She said: “The FA have a duty to oversee every aspect of England’s engagement with the World Cup, including the kit, which we should be proud of as a country. It will be hard to be proud if it turns out it was made on the back of people being exploited.”The Clean Clothes Campaign said: “Their wages do not even cover basic needs, much less enable them and their families to have decent lives.“An easy way for Nike to profit is making the fans pay a lot for the kits while workers are paid starvation wages.“Fans should demand Nike change this exploitative business model.”Bangladesh garment workers get a minimum monthly wage of £47.Nike, which makes the England strip socks in Bulgaria, says it does business “ethically and sustainably” and suppliers must pay “at least the local minimum wage or prevailing wage”.Football Association bosses said they had received “assurances that all England products are manufactured in accordance with the law”.

BY DANIEL J. ROTH | Jpost.comNEW YORK – Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon condemned the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday after it approved a decision to open an independent investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes on the Gaza border. “The fact that this shameful decision was made even after Hamas officials admitted that the vast majority of those killed were terrorists proves, once again, that nothing can separate this council from its hatred of Israel,” Danon said in a statement. “The day this Council investigates the war crimes of Hamas is the day it can be called the Human Rights Council,” he added. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also issued a strongly worded rebuke of the UNHRC, saying: “At a time when Venezuela lurches toward dictatorship, Iran imprisons thousands of political opponents, and ethnic cleansing has taken place in Burma, the UN’s so-called Human Rights Council has decided to launch an investigation into a democratic country’s legitimate defense of its own border against terrorist attacks. It is another shameful day for human rights.”Earlier this week, mass riots on the Gaza-Israel border led to 60 Palestinians being killed and more than 1,700 wounded. The demonstrations, known collectively as “The Great March of Return,” coincided with the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. The protests had been held every week since March 30, with more than 100 people being killed and thousands injured during that time. The scope of the violence hit its peak last Monday, culminating in the bloodiest day in Gaza since Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Following the shootings, Israel has faced strident condemnation for what has been labeled “disproportionate” force against unarmed Palestinians. The lone holdout was the United States, which insisted Israel has a right to defend itself from the violent demonstrations and from those trying to infiltrate its borders. The IDF said many of the Palestinians shot on Monday were carrying weapons, hurling Molotov cocktails or trying to damage the border fence.Hamas leaders later took to local media outlets in Gaza to claim that at least 50 of those killed in the demonstrations were members of the terrorist organization. The UNHRC decision came just one day after Kuwait circulated a draft resolution calling for an international force to be deployed to Gaza in order to protect Palestinian civilians from Israel. “The cynicism and attempts to distort reality have reached a new low. Israel will continue to defend its sovereignty and the security of its citizens against the terror and murderous violence of Hamas,” Danon said. “This shameful draft resolution is a proposal to support Hamas’s war crimes against Israel and the residents of Gaza who are being sent to die for the sake of preserving Hamas’s rule,” he added.

NIGEL FARAGE was left in stitches after a caller hilariously declared complaints about Wednesday’s fishing protest on the Thames came from “tofu-munching liberals”. ​Environmentalists hit out at Mr Farage after he hurled a box of haddock into the river in front of the Houses of Parliament in a Brexit protest alongside campaigners for the country’s fishing fleet.Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Thames21 all waded in, accusing the former Ukip leader of increasing pollution in the Thames.The environmental campaigners said Mr Farage and the fishermen had dumped fish in an “already stressed ecosystem”, adding his “moaning isn’t going to help anyone”.Debbie Leach, CEO of Thames21, said: “The Thames, and all rivers, are delicate ecosystems which need to be respected and protected. “Rivers are not places to simply dump things, without a second thought: today’s dumping of dead fish in the Thames increases the pollution load on an already stressed ecosystem, which Thames21, and others, work hard to improve.“It is also a worrying illustration of the significant risk to UK rivers unless strong environmental legislation is included within the Brexit deal, so the government has a duty to ensure this approach.”Mr Farage on the evening of the fishing protest took a hilarious call from a man named Chris, who had some choice words for the environmental complainers.“The irony of it, Chris, I’m being criticised and condemned by a series of environmental groups, some of whom over the years have taken EU funding, and they’re saying what I have done is bad for the environment, when every day we’re throwing back tens of thousands of fish.” Mr Farage told his LBC caller.The radio host’s guest proceeded to leave him in stitches with a hilarious quip about the complaints.Chris replied: “It’s simple shroud-waving by these tofu-munching liberals, who are honestly think Brexiteers are zealots right to the very core of their souls.“And, any issue you get involved in is like a red rag to a bull.”Mr Farage’s stunt was also criticised by millionaire ex-footballer and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker.Lineker took to Twitter to criticise the former Ukip leader sparking a furious row.Alongside an image of Nigel Farage and Fishing for Leave campaigner Aaron Brown, Mr Lineker wrote: “Rarely have 2 such slimey, smelly, slippery creatures held on to some fish.”Mr Farage instantly put the former England international’s moaning in the “same category” as Sir Bob Geldof, insisting the pair do not recognise the damage caused to the fishing industry by the Common Fisheries Policy.

. . . . . Disney sure seems to have an agenda. Consider the fact that the very same week that news of Disney’s “exclusively gay moment” came out, the studio included a scene of several same-sex couples kissing in an episode of Disney XD’s children’s cartoon “Star vs. the Forces of Evil.”What’s next, a playful threesome between Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto?Turns out, the so-called “conspiracy theory” of a “gay agenda” isn’t a theory at all. In fact, it explains why acceptance and even celebration of the gay lifestyle has become normalized and even elevated to “civil rights” status in a society that once viewed the behaviour as abhorrent, even deviant. (full story)

THE HIJRAH INTO EUROPEby Robert Spencer | Front Page Mag[Note: although this article was originally published in 2015, we believe the contents and implications are even more relevant today than ever considering the current state of play in Europe]​Approximately 104,460 asylum seekers arrived in Germany during the month of August (2015), setting a new record. That makes 413,535 registered refugees and migrants coming to Germany in 2015 so far. The country expects a total of around 800,000 people to seek asylum in Germany this year. And that’s just Germany. The entire continent of Europe is being inundated with refugees at a rate unprecedented in world history. This is no longer just a “refugee crisis.” This is a hijrah.Hijrah, or jihad by emigration, is, according to Islamic tradition, the migration or journey of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622 CE. It was after the hijrah that Muhammad for the first time became not just a preacher of religious ideas, but a political and military leader. That was what occasioned his new “revelations” exhorting his followers to commit violence against unbelievers. Significantly, the Islamic calendar counts the hijrah, not Muhammad’s birth or the occasion of his first “revelation,” as the beginning of Islam, implying that Islam is not fully itself without a political and military component.To emigrate in the cause of Allah – that is, to move to a new land in order to bring Islam there, is considered in Islam to be a highly meritorious act. “And whoever emigrates for the cause of Allah will find on the earth many locations and abundance,” says the Qur’an. “And whoever leaves his home as an emigrant to Allah and His Messenger and then death overtakes him, his reward has already become incumbent upon Allah. And Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.” (4:100) The exalted status of such emigrants led a British jihad group that won notoriety (and a shutdown by the government) a few years ago for celebrating 9/11 to call itself Al-Muhajiroun: The Emigrants.And now a hijrah of a much greater magnitude is upon us. Evidence that this is a hijrah, not simply a humanitarian crisis, came last February, but was little noted at the time and almost immediately forgotten. The Islamic State published a document entitled, “Libya: The Strategic Gateway for the Islamic State.” Gateway into Europe, that is: the document exhorted Muslims to go to Libya and cross from there as refugees into Europe. This document tells would-be jihadis that weapons from Gaddafi’s arsenal are plentiful and easy to obtain in Libya – and that the country “has a long coast and looks upon the southern Crusader states, which can be reached with ease by even a rudimentary boat.”The Islamic State did not have in mind just a few jihadis crossing from Libya: it also emerged last February (2014) that the jihadis planned to flood Europe with as many as 500,000 refugees. Now the number is shooting well beyond that in Germany alone. Of course, not all of these refugees are Islamic jihadis. Not all are even Muslims, although most are. However, no effort whatsoever is being made to determine the refugees’ adherence to Sharia and desire to bring it to their new land. Any such effort would be “Islamophobic.” Yet there are already hints that the Islamic State is putting its plan into effect: jihadis have already been found among the refugees trying to enter Europe. There will be many more such discoveries.(full article)

The Clinton Foundation Is Dead — But The Case Against Hillary Isn'tby www.investors.comWhile everyone was gearing up for President Trump's inauguration, the Clinton Foundation made a major announcement that went by with almost no notice: For all intents and purposes, it's closing its doors.In a tax filing, the Clinton Global Initiative said it's firing 22 staffers and closing its offices, a result of the gusher of foreign money that kept the foundation afloat suddenly drying up after Hillary Clinton failed to win the presidency.It proves what we've said all along: The Clinton Foundation was little more than an influence-peddling scheme to enrich the Clintons, and had little if anything to do with "charity," either overseas or in the U.S. That sound you heard starting in November was checkbooks being snapped shut in offices around the world by people who had hoped their donations would buy access to the next president of the United States.And why not? There was a strong precedent for it in Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. While serving as the nation's top diplomat, the Clinton Foundation took money from at least seven foreign governments — a clear breach of Clinton's pledge on taking office that there would be total separation between her duties and the foundation.Is there a smoking gun? Well, of the 154 private interests who either officially met or had scheduled phone talks with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state, at least 85 were donors to the Clinton Foundation or one of its programs.In November, we asked the question: "Is The Clinton Foundation Doomed?" The answer is yes.All the way back in May, we outlined how the Clinton Foundation had taken in $100 million from a collection of Gulf sheikhs and billionaires, along with millions from private businesses, who expected — and received — special access to the State Department's top official, Hillary.In his 2015 book "Clinton Cash," author Peter Schweizer showed how during Hillary's years in government "the Clintons have conducted or facilitated hundreds of large transactions (either as private citizens or government officials) with foreign governments, corporations and private financiers." He called the sums going to the Clintons "staggering."Using the Freedom of Information Act, Judicial Watch in August obtained emails (that had been hidden from investigators) showing that Clinton's top State Department aide, Huma Abedin, had given "special expedited access to the secretary of state" for those who gave $25,000 to $10 million to the Clinton Foundation. Many of those were facilitated by a former executive of the foundation, Doug Band, who headed Teneo, a shell company that managed the Clintons' affairs.As part of this elaborate arrangement, Abedin was given special permission to work for the State Department, the Clinton Foundation and Teneo — another very clear conflict of interest.As Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said at the time, "These new emails confirm that Hillary Clinton abused her office by selling favors to Clinton Foundation donors."The seedy saga doesn't end there. Indeed, there are so many facets to it, some may never be known. But there is still at least one and possibly four active federal investigations into the Clintons' supposed charity.Americans aren't willing to forgive and forget. Earlier this month, the IBD/TIPP Poll asked Americans whether they would like President Obama to pardon Hillary for any crimes she may have committed as secretary of state, including the illegal use of an unsecured homebrew email server. Of those queried, 57% said no. So if public sentiment is any guide, the Clintons' problems may just be beginning.Writing in the Washington Post in August of 2016, Charles Krauthammer pretty much summed up the whole tawdry tale: "The foundation is a massive family enterprise disguised as a charity, an opaque and elaborate mechanism for sucking money from the rich and the tyrannous to be channeled to Clinton Inc.," he wrote. "Its purpose is to maintain the Clintons' lifestyle (offices, travel accommodations, etc.), secure profitable connections, produce favorable publicity and reliably employ a vast entourage of retainers, ready to serve today and at the coming Clinton Restoration."Except, now there is no Clinton Restoration. So there's no reason for any donors to give money to the foundation. It lays bare the fiction of a massive "charitable organization," and shows it for what it was: a scam to sell for cash the waning influence of the Democrats' pre-eminent power couple. As far as the charity landscape goes, the Clinton Global Initiative won't be missed.

Trump vs The NeoCon Establishment Fake News ​by Sam Johnson | World Corruption MonitorThe latest supposed revelation about Trump having secret inroads with Moscow is yet another load of balderdash from fruitcakes of the third degree. And that pretty much sums it up. What will the Democrats come up with next?In case anybody hasn’t noticed this new set of documents unsurprisingly was compiled by Buzzfeed who openly has admitted, 'The dossier, includes specific, unverified, and potentially unverifiable allegations of contact between Trump aides and Russian operatives …’ Be real. This is about as fake news as it gets. And let’s not forget to put the whole bogus claim into context. It’s always important to ask the key question, what does the source - in this case Buzzfeed - have to gain from these claims. Besides achieving instant limelight, Buzzfeed is known for sensationalist articles which gauge success by just how viral they go on social media. The fact that Trump is heading to the White house in a matter of days, well, the answer is obvious. First we hear that Russia has hacked the DNC in order to throw the US election in favour of trump. But to date not one shred of evidence has surfaced to prove these allegations. The report materialized by the CIA was far more concerned about deaminizing RT news than putting forward anything close to representing real evidence incriminating Putin and his government.This latest attempt to demonize Trump is a deliberate act of sabotage and the real sources of this rubbish know they can put this kind of fake news out there and a high percentage of Americans and social media will believe it’s so, because McCarthyism is alive and well in America. Yet if the Russians were to produce the same low level drivel that claimed the US government influenced a Russian election you can bet the vast majority of people led by the Neocons would be screaming foul play expressing the ultimate double standard. In fact, that’s exactly what happened in the past. In July 1996, time magazine published a revelatory article entitled, ‘RESCUING BORIS - THE SECRET STORY OF HOW FOUR U.S. ADVISERS USED POLLS, FOCUS GROUPS, NEGATIVE ADS AND ALL THE OTHER TECHNIQUES OF AMERICAN CAMPAIGNING TO HELP BORIS YELTSIN WIN’.Yet with a revelation like this, the western press seems to be suffering a severe case of amnesia.The overwhelming irony of the truth of the matter is that real news based on undeniable facts released by WikiLeaks (which no one has denied as truth) continues to stay well below the radar of virtually every major outlet within mainstream western media. The degree of hypocrisy is mind blowing. And the real and ongoing hidden agenda of the Neocon establishment is now rearing its ugly head with the full intention of derailing and delegitimizing the Trump administration in any way possible before his inauguration on the 20th.

February 16, 2017WikiLeaks: CIA Hacked All Major French Parties Before 2012 Presidential Electionby Sputnicknews.com[So much for the Holier than thou CIA accusing the Russians of hacking the US election. It certainly adds credence to the age old joke of, ‘ How can you tell if a CIA agent is lying? . . . His lips are moving.’]The Latest Wikileaks Website's Revelation Has Shown That All Major French Political Parties Were Hacked In The Course Of The Massive CiA Operation That Spanned Over Ten Months Before The 2012 Presidential Election In The Country.WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The CIA officially ordered its agents to penetrate all the major political parties in France and their electronic systems before the country’s 2012 presidential election, WikiLeaks revealed with a cache of agency documents made public on Thursday."All major French political parties were targeted for infiltration by the CIA's human (HUMINT) and electronic (SIGINT) spies in the seven months leading up to France's 2012 presidential election," WikiLeaks said in an accompanying statement. WikiLeaks published three CIA tasking orders that named the French Socialist Party, the National Front and Union for a Popular Movement as targets for penetration.Current French President Francois Hollande, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy, current presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and former presidential candidates Martine Aubry and Dominique Strauss-Khan were all targeted too, according to the released documents.One of the CIA orders directed agents to learn opposition parties' strategies for the election, information on internal party dynamics and rising leaders and efforts to influence and implement political decisions, the documents reveal.The CIA operation ran for ten months from November 21, 2011 until September 29, 2012, WikiLeaks noted.

Washington, D.C. – WikiLeaks has dropped yet another bomb on the credibility of the Obama administration, as the transparency organization released the full leaked audioof U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s meeting with Syrian Opposition members at the Dutch Mission of the United Nations on September 22, 2016.The leaked audio exposes a 35-minute conversation that reveals the U.S. intentionally allowed the rise of ISIS as a means of forcing Assad out of power, which was omitted by CNN and the New York Times in their reporting when the audio was originally leaked to the Times in late September of 2016.

'The meeting took place at the Dutch Mission to the United Nations on Sept. 22. There were perhaps 20 people around a table: representatives of four Syrian groups that provide education, rescue and medical services in rebel-held areas; diplomats from three or four countries; and Mr. Kerry’s chief of staff and special envoy for Syria. The recording was made by a non-Syrian attendee, and several other participants confirmed its authenticity…Several of the Syrian participants said afterward that they had left the meeting demoralized, convinced that no further help would come from the Obama administration.'​Highlighting exactly why WikiLeaks is the gold standard of journalism, both the NY Times and CNN chose to only report on certain aspects of the recording and omitting the most damning comments made by Kerry. Essentially, they attempted to hide from public view the statements that would allow Americans to understand what has actually taken place in Syria – a regime change operation.

The NY Times never published the full audio, only publishing selected snippets, and CNN removed the audio altogether, with an editor’s note stating that they took down the audio recording at the request of some of the participants out of concern for their personal safety.During the conversation, John Kerry admitted that he pushed for intervention in Syria, but eventually lost the argument.‘“I lost the argument for use of force in Syria,” John Kerry told the members of the Syrian Opposition.“The audio gives a glimpse into what goes on outside official meetings. Note that it represents the US narrative and not necessarily the entire true narrative,” according to WikiLeaks.The leaked recording confirms three clear and important facts that thoroughly destroy the official U.S. stance on Syria the past 5 years, and highlights the convoluted U.S. support of Islamist insurgents in Syria. These facts are likely the reason for this story being buried by the mainstream media.1. Secretary of State John Kerry admits and outlines the Obama administration’s primary goal in Syria was regime change and the removal of Bahar al-Assad.2. In order to accomplish the primary goal of regime change, the White House allowed the rise of ISIS. The administration hoped that ISIS’ growing power in Syria would force Syrian President Bashir Assad into a diplomatic solution, on U.S. terms, forcing him to cede power.3. As a means of accomplishing these two objectives, the U.S. intentionally armed ISIS and even, arguably, attacked a Syrian government military convoy to stop a strategic attack upon the Islamic extremists killing 80 Syrian soldiers.While many of these facts have been previously exposed through disparate research, the audio recording provides specific evidence that conclusively supports the regime change narrative being embarked upon by the Obama administration. Below is a quick video summary of how events have transpired over the years of conflict in Syria.

Essentially, the U.S. allowed ISIS to rise in Syria as a means of forcing Assad out of power. The White House discerned that using an Islamist proxy force would save American lives, and at the same time allow for U.S. objectives to be reached in terms of regime change.As ISIS gained strength and grew into a fierce fighting force in Syria, the White House grew optimistic that their covert strategy of regime change was within reach. It was at this tipping point, that instead of succumbing to the regime change operation, Syria, being a client state of Russia, reached out to Vladimir Putin for military assistance and aid. Once Russia became involved in the Syrian theater of war it pushed the White House plan of regime change by proxy into turmoil. The Russians’ overwhelming success against ISIS, al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra, and various other Islamist extremist elements in Syria essentially negated the regime change operation by proxy.When Russia came to aid Bashir Assad, the Syrian Government began being able to defeat ISIS and the Islamic Extremist elements within Syria. For the hidden plan of Obama/Kerry (and also McCain, Graham, et al), Russia defeating ISIS, al-Qaeda and al-Nusra, upended their objective.The fact is, that while claiming to be at global war with ISIS, the U.S. allowed the group to grow in strength and numbers with the intent of using them as a weapon to destabilize and topple a legitimately recognized government. The revelations contained within this leaked audio are simply astounding.

​Operation Northwoods: U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War With Cuba (by killing American citizens)abc NEWS | by David Ruppe

In the early 1960s, America's top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Cuba. Code named Operation Northwoods, the plans reportedly included the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and even orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. cities. The plans were developed as ways to trick the American public and the international community into supporting a war to oust Cuba's then new leader, communist Fidel Castro. (full Article)

​Bombshell: UN Orders Immediate Release Of Julian Assangeby CARLYN HARVEY | The CanaryThe United Nations has dealt a bitter blow to the UK government, ordering them to immediately release Julian Assange from his “illegal detention”.The UN rejected a UK appeal against its previous ruling in favor of Assange as “inadmissible,” which means that both the UK and Sweden will be forced to free the WikiLeaks founder with immediate effect.“Now that all appeals are exhausted, I expect that the UK and Sweden will comply with their international obligations and set me free,” Julian Assange said in a statement.Thecanary.co reports:Swedish authorities want to bring Assange in for questioning over alleged sexual misconduct in 2010. The US also wants access to him for a “multi subject investigation” into Wikileaks. And Sweden refused to guarantee that it would not extradite Assange to the US if he travelled to the country to face the accusations against him.Ecuador gave Assange asylum in 2012, and he has now been in its London embassy for over four years. The UK government has said authorities will arrest him if he tries to leave, and has routinely stationed police at the embassy.Assange has repeatedly offered for questioning by Swedish prosecutors to take place in the Ecuadorian Embassy. Swedish authorities finally scheduled an interview at the embassy earlier in November.​UN standing firm on AssangeThe UN said the appeal made by the UK was “not admissible“. Its decision also confirms that the UK is in breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); and it will continue to be if the detention doesn’t end. The UDHR is part of international law, which is legally binding.The website Justice for Assange detailed the WikiLeaks founder’s response to the rejection:Now that all appeals are exhausted I expect that the UK and Sweden will comply with their international obligations and set me free. It is an obvious and grotesque injustice to detain someone for six years who hasn’t even been charged with an offence.Whether the UK authorities will abide by the judgement is as yet unknown. But the pressure is now on. If the UK ignores the ruling, it will be publicly flouting international law. And its ability to wag its finger at other countries that do the same will mean absolutely nothing. Now we will see just how wedded to universal standards the UK really is.

The Real and Shocking Truth About the 9/11 Cover-upThe 9/11 tragedy is no doubt the single largest terrorist related catastrophe in modern time. And if there were a survey of single news events that reached more people on a worldwide scale than any other event, 9/11 would most likely top the list. The image to the right certainly epitomizes the the well known adage, 'A picture is worth a thousand words'. However, the pat story of 1,000 words originally told by the US government to explain 9/11 away, has slowly but visibly started to unravel over the years since 9/11 occurred in 2001. The following story is taken verbatim and is unedited since WCM could not possibly enhance the significance of and implications this story has toward unravelling the real truth about what happened at 9/11 . . .

A Timeline of CIA AtrocitiesBy Steve KangasCIA operations follow the same recurring script. First, American business interests abroad are threatened by a popular or democratically elected leader. The people support their leader because he intends to conduct land reform, strengthen unions, redistribute wealth, nationalize foreign-owned industry, and regulate business to protect workers, consumers and the environment. So, on behalf of American business, and often with their help, the CIA mobilizes the opposition. (full article)

Truman’s 1963 Warning on the CIA Still True TodayRay McGovern | www.PopularResistance.orgNational security secrecy and a benighted sense of “what’s good for the country” can be a dangerous mix for democracy, empowering self-interested or misguided officials to supplant the people’s will, as President Truman warned and ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern explains. (more)

First Audit of Federal Reserve shows massive Corruption - bailout of Foreign Banks while Americans have no Jobs

by Bernie Sanders (Website)

The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. "As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world," said Sanders. "This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else."Among the investigation's key findings is that the Fed unilaterally provided trillions of dollars in financial assistance to foreign banks and corporations from South Korea to Scotland, according to the GAO report. "No agency of the United States government should be allowed to bailout a foreign bank or corporation without the direct approval of Congress and the president," Sanders said.The non-partisan, investigative arm of Congress also determined that the Fed lacks a comprehensive system to deal with conflicts of interest, despite the serious potential for abuse. In fact, according to the report, the Fed provided conflict of interest waivers to employees and private contractors so they could keep investments in the same financial institutions and corporations that were given emergency loans.For example, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase served on the New York Fed's board of directors at the same time that his bank received more than $390 billion in financial assistance from the Fed. Moreover, JP Morgan Chase served as one of the clearing banks for the Fed's emergency lending programs.In another disturbing finding, the GAO said that on Sept. 19, 2008, William Dudley, who is now the New York Fed president, was granted a waiver to let him keep investments in AIG and General Electric at the same time AIG and GE were given bailout funds. One reason the Fed did not make Dudley sell his holdings, according to the audit, was that it might have created the appearance of a conflict of interest.​To Sanders, the conclusion is simple. "No one who works for a firm receiving direct financial assistance from the Fed should be allowed to sit on the Fed's board of directors or be employed by the Fed," he said.The investigation also revealed that the Fed outsourced most of its emergency lending programs to private contractors, many of which also were recipients of extremely low-interest and then-secret loans.The Fed outsourced virtually all of the operations of their emergency lending programs to private contractors like JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo. The same firms also received trillions of dollars in Fed loans at near-zero interest rates. Altogether some two-thirds of the contracts that the Fed awarded to manage its emergency lending programs were no-bid contracts. Morgan Stanley was given the largest no-bid contract worth $108.4 million to help manage the Fed bailout of AIG.A more detailed GAO investigation into potential conflicts of interest at the Fed is due on Oct. 18, but Sanders said one thing already is abundantly clear. "The Federal Reserve must be reformed to serve the needs of working families, not just CEOs on Wall Street."

​ISIS Worst NightmareSeemingly there is very little that intimidates the likes of ISIS on the battlefield. However there is one thing that literally puts 'the fear of G-d' (or rather the fear of Hell) into every ISIS soldier. In much the same warped way ISIS fanatics believe that to die in battle means going straight to Heaven, they also believe that to be killed by a woman in battle will send them straight to hell. Enter left stage the fierce and heroic women warriors of the Kurdish Women's Protection Units, and ISIS warriors head for the bunkers!(full story)

Chinese Government Paid Bill Clinton Massive Speaking Fee 10 Days Before Hillary Made ‘Asia Pivot’by Mike Flynn | BreitbartDonald Trump is making his most direct and comprehensive attack on Clinton's fitness for the Presidency. Drawing heavily from Breitbart News Editor Peter Schweizer’s bestseller, “Clinton Cash“, Trump focused particular attention on the cozy financial relationship between the Clintons, their eponymous foundation and China.Here is a quote from the book, “At the center of U.S. policy toward China was Hillary Clinton. At this critical time for U.S.- China relations, Bill Clinton gave a number of speeches that were underwritten by the Chinese government and its supporters. These funds were paid to the Clintons’ bank account directly, while Hillary was negotiating with China on behalf of the United States.”Tell me, folks, does that work? She sold out our workers and our country for Beijing. Hillary Clinton has also been the biggest promoter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will ship millions more of our jobs overseas and give up congressional power to an international foreign commission.In its reporting of Trump’s remarks, Politico passed over the accusation against the Clintons and prominently noted talking points from the Clinton campaign:The Clinton campaign has trashed the book as “false, right-wing attacks” funded by the Koch brothers, and it continued to push back on Trump’s attacks Wednesday afternoon.A reporter from Fortune, Chris Matthews, penned at least two articles on Wednesday, trying to debunk allegations Trump made against Clinton. He devoted an entire article to the relationship between the Clintons and China.Trump doesn’t exactly back up these allegations, though he does quote from a book, Clinton Cash, published last year by conservative writer and Brietbart News Editor Peter Schweizer. The book details instances when Bill Clinton was paid to give speeches by foreign business groups while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, like a speech to a business conference called the Huatuo CEO Forum in 2011 for $550,000.Trump didn’t say, however, what exactly he thinks Hillary Clinton did as Secretary of State that helped the Chinese economy or caused the trade deficit between the United States and China rise. He does mention President Clinton’s support for the North American Free Trade Agreement as well as his support for China’s entrance into the WTO, but both of those events occurred before Hillary Clinton held public office and before Bill Clinton began accepting money to give speeches.Mr. Matthews may be the most incurious person in journalism.Bill Clinton being paid more than half a million dollars for a single speech by a Chinese business group while Hillary Clinton is Secretary of State seems somewhat noteworthy, by itself. Matthews, however, seems to be only interested if the paid speech could be directly tied to a specific action taken by Secretary Clinton.Matthews fails to note in his “fact-check” that, in addition to the $550,000 paid by a Chinese “foreign business group,” Bill Clinton also received, in the same year, $200,000 for a speech paid for by an entity of the Chinese government. This Clinton speech, delivered on October 21, 2011, took place just 10 days after Secy. Clinton publicly announced an “Asian Pivot” in American foreign policy.(full article)

Bill & Hillary Clinton sold out America's work force to China through Nafta and associated new Super highways

​As Peter Navarros pointed out earlier this year; 'It’s bad enough President Bill, with Hillary’s support, signed the NAFTA agreement in 1993. The Clinton spin here was that we had to help Mexico build up its manufacturing and jobs base to stem the flow of illegal immigration.

But what is likely to turn out far worse for Hillary is President Bill’s pivotal role in shoehorning Communist China into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.Because of her husband’s ill-considered WTO deal, the good old USA has had to endure a tsunami of illegally subsidized Chinese exports, the closure of over fifty thousand American factories, the creation of a huge American army of the permanently angry and unemployed, and a crushing debt of several trillion dollars to a communist country now rapidly using those Made in China dollars to build up a military with the clear intention of seizing territory from its neighbors in the East and South China Seas and pushing the American navy out of the Western Pacific.'

Founder of 'Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom' (TURF) - Terri Hall further expanded on how the US government is force feeding the American public using tax payers money to build a new 'super highway' road system that cuts across the heart of America connecting Canada with Mexico and allowing a massive amount of cheap Chinese goods to be brought into America through the newly expanded Panama Canal and flood American markets:

'These high priority corridors became the pathways to global trade when NAFTA came on the scene in the 1990s. With the expansion of the Panama Canal by the Chinese government coming online in 2014, Texas, as the trans-continental transportation hub, is strategically positioned to become the gateway to ushering cheap Chinese goods into the United States at alarming new levels. This is the ‘congestion’ these trade superhighways seek to address – not the congestion created by the daily commute of ordinary American citizens.TxDOT and the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) are also seeking tolled upgrades to another portion of US 281 in San Antonio. Though US 281 in San Antonio doesn’t follow the I-69 alignment, it eventually goes all the way up to the Canadian border and could serve as yet another NAFTA trade corridor when the coming tidal wave of Chinese goods begins to flood Texas highways.Though trade may be the primary driver to building these corridors, those concerned with America’s porous borders believe these superhighways will also facilitate the free flow of people, not all of them legal, across virtually open borders as well, posing a serious national security threat.No matter how you slice it or name it, the NAFTA superhighways are slowly becoming a reality. When local, state, and federal governments along with a host of special interests who stand to financially benefit from global trade, team up to hire a massive network of lobbyists to foist these trade corridors upon the American people at taxpayers’ expense, it’s easy to see why it’s proved so hard to stop. That’s why it’s now time for Texans and all patriotic Americans across the land to take a stand against this arrogant push by the governing elite at creeping globalization that will only end in economic integration and a North American Union with Canada and Mexico, not unlike the socialist European Union.'

'Gestapo' tactics at US police 'black site' ring alarm from Chicago to WashingtonThe GuardianA startling article by the Guardian revealing a secretive police interrogation site located in a Chicago suburb has shocked the US public all across the country. The first of potentially multiple CIA style Black site detention centers to be uncovered, has been in full operation since the late 90's and reflects a new chapter in the bogus US 'war on terror' which is now targeting the average American citizen as part of its emerging US 'Police state' crackdown on constitutional civil liberties. (Full Story)

​The Elite's Rush to Implant Hillary in Power: Clinton and the Dangers of Nuclear WarBy Joachim Hagopian | Global Research

Every single day we are seeing more outrageously desperate actions on the part of the globalists and their US government minions. Among the latest unfolding developments this week all fast tracking towards world war against Russia is NATO’s violation of international law deploying AWACS (Airborne Radar Warning and Control system) in Syria despite only Syria and Russia possessing the legal right to control the embattled country’s airspace.With both US and Turkish boots on the ground in northern Syria and US led coalition airstrikes regularly invading the sovereign nation’s airspace, recently targeting Syrian soldiers and plans to kill more, along with former acting CIA director Mike Morell’s recent call to begin killing Russian soldiers, the latest warpath rant comes from Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley who is now threatening Russia (as well as China and Iran) with nuclear war. Spoken just like a true grade school bully on a playground, he boasts, “We will beat you harder than you have ever been beaten before!” This is the kind of moronic leadership that rises to the top of the Empire food chain? I’m afraid so. The most likely next commander-in-chief is Hillary Clinton. She’s already made it very clear that any real or perceived cyberspace attack on America coming from anywhere in the world constitutes an act of war and a military response against the cyber-perpetrators’ country.After already vowing to bomb Iran and with her constant accusations blaming Putin for everything gone wrong in her life, including exposing her DNC corruption scandal responsible for rigging her presidential election, she is also all but promising to launch World War III against nuclear powered Russia. Incisive insider Paul Craig Roberts and even Putin have both said so. The neocon insanity that she represents is committed to perpetrating both suicidal and genocidal mass murder.With a total of 7,100 US nuclear warheads as of August 2016 and an estimate reported two years ago of 2,150 operationally deployed nukes, America could destroy itself four times over while Russia’s 7,300 nuclear weapons would likely carry the same tremendous overkill power.When we’re all dead, it hardly matters who has what? (full article)

​Hillary Clinton, Who Colluded With The Russians, Questions The Legitimacy Of The 2016 Elections Because of….Russia!

Failed former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is now directly questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 elections, citing the discredited deep state narrative that Donald Trump worked with the Russians as one of her reasons despite the fact that her own campaign colluded with “Russian sources” to spread disinformation about President Trump through what would eventually become known as the “Trump dossier.”Clinton made the comments in a wide ranging interview with the always friendly Mother Jones Senior Reporter Ari Berman where she stated that there are many questions about the actual legitimacy of the last presidential election in which she lost.During the interview Berman asked Clinton, “So between the Republican voter suppression you talked about and Russian interference, do you think it was a legitimate election?”“I think that there are lots of questions about its legitimacy, and we don’t have a method for contesting that in our system. That’s why I’ve long advocated for an independent commission to get to the bottom of what happened. Because, look, this is the first time we’ve ever been attacked by a foreign adversary, and then they suffer no real consequences,” Clinton replied.“And so, I’m worried that we’re not learning all the lessons, it’s one of the reasons why I wrote the book. Because I wanted people at least to understand what I saw as the factors, including shortcomings of myself and my campaign. But the forces at work outside my campaign are not going away. Somebody else is going to be running for Congress, or governor, or eventually president. We’ve got to know how to protect ourselves.”Berman then attempted to get Clinton to double down by specifically clarifying that she was stating she had questions about the election itself. Clinton happily obliged.“I do, sure. Because I think, as we learn more about it, we know that the web of connections between people on Trump’s team and Russian representatives just gets more and more dense.”The interview is flabbergasting to say the least, especially when you consider that some of the reasons cited by Clinton are literally exactly what she and her campaign actually carried out themselves!Remember, it has already been revealed that Clinton’s campaign paid opposition research firm Fusion GPS to find dirt on then candidate Donald Trump. Fusion GPS then hired former British spy Christopher Steele who turned to his admittedly Russian sources to come up with the now infamous Trump dossier.“That’s right, in a literal reverse of what the entire mainstream media has fed the American people for over a year, we now have evidence that, either wittingly or unwittingly, the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid for what amounted to disinformation that came directly from “Russian sources,” I reported for SHTFplan in an article about Hillary’s collusion with Russia.“Obviously this may seem truly unbelievable to some, but the facts speak for themselves and there is no denying that Democrats paid a shady opposition research company to try and dig up dirt on Donald Trump who then subsequently hired former British spy Christopher Steele. Steele then openly used Russian sources for most of the serious allegations in the Russia dossier.”Amazingly, it was the mainstream media themselves that revealed that Steele’s paid sources were Russians, long before it was confirmed that the Clinton campaign had paid for the entire operation.Buried deep in a report by Vanity Fair that spends thousands of words trying to pretend that the dossier could be legitimate, is this nugget that paints a picture of direct or indirect collusion between the Clinton team and Russia.How good were these sources? Consider what Steele would write in the memos he filed with Simpson: Source A—to use the careful nomenclature of his dossier—was “a senior Russian Foreign Ministry figure.” Source B was “a former top level intelligence officer still active in the Kremlin.” And both of these insiders, after “speaking to a trusted compatriot,” would claim that the Kremlin had spent years getting its hooks into Donald Trump.Source E was “an ethnic Russian” and “close associate of Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump.”It is cut and dry. Hillary Clinton is now attempting to stir up even more anti-Trump sentiment by questioning the election itself when there is documented evidence that money from her campaign was used to gather disinformation from Russia to hurt Donald Trump.This is a confirmed reality yet Clinton was predictably not questioned on this shocking hypocrisy by the liberal reporter who most likely shares Clinton’ reverse reality beliefs as well.

October 30, 2017JFK Files: The CIA Planned To Murder American Citizens In Miami And Blame It On Cuba During Operation Mongooseby Alex Thomas | SHTFplan.comAs reporters have began to sift through the thousands of newly revealed government documents relating to the assassination of President Kennedy and subsequent investigation, we are starting to see some stunning revelations concerning not only JFK but the overall mindset of the CIA at the time in their all out war against Communism.One of the more scary revelations to come out so far details a copy of a paper on “Pretexts” for war with Cuba that described a plan, under Operation Mongoose, to conduct false flag terror attacks in Miami, to be blamed on Cuba but actually carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency.“Operation Mongoose” was the operational name for the CIA’s plan to topple the Castro government which we now know included purposefully killing our own citizens.The time was 1962, the same year that brought us the now infamous Operation Northwoods, which was also a plan to kill American citizens as a pretext for war with Communist Cuba.“On April 12th, 1962, General Lansdale forwarded to Maxwell Taylor an “advance copy” of the Joint Chiefs paper on “Pretexts” stating, I am informed that the Chiefs approve of this,” reads the document.Keep in mind that this is an admission that the Pentagon at the time was fully on board with killing Americans if it allowed them to wage war against Cuba.“We could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington. We could sink a boatload of Cubans enroute to Florida (real or simulated),” the false flag plan reads.“We could foster attempts on lives of Cuban refugees in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized. Exploding a few plastic bombs in carefully chosen spots, the arrest of a Cuban agent and the release of prepared documents substantiating Cuban involvement also would be helpful in projecting the idea of an irresponsible government.”While it has been long known that Operation Mongoose was a false flag pretext operation to go to war with Cuba, the fact that the CIA was going to murder Americans hasn’t been released although it has been hinted.As James Bamford reported in his book, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency From the Cold War Through the Dawn of a New Century, “The U.S. Department of Defense report even suggested covertly paying a person in the Castro government to attack the United States: “The only area remaining for consideration then would be to bribe one of Castro’s subordinate commanders to initiate an attack on [the U.S. Navy base at] Guantanamo.”This is yet more evidence that the United States government can and does carry out false flag operations, with 9/11 being the most major example of our time.Moving even more into the present, if the government was willing to do this is Miami, why is it so hard to believe they would do the same thing in Las Vegas in 2017?

by AndreaVogt, bologna | TelegraphThe former rector of a prominent Legion of Christ seminary in Rome is leaving the priesthood after admitting to having a secret family, including two children of his own, which he concealed for years from Roman Catholic authorities. The conservative Catholic order announced this weekend that Father Oscar Turrion, a popular 49-year-old Spanish priest who was made rector of the Pontifical Maria Matter Ecclesiae International College in Rome in 2014, will leave the priestly ministry in order to dedicate more time to a family he has raised clandestinely until now. Back in March, Father Turrion first told his superiors at the Pontifical Maria Matter Ecclesiae International College, which houses approximately 100 male diocesan seminarians from around the globe, that he had recently fathered a daughter.As Roman Catholic priests are bound to a vow of celibacy, the order offered him a “period of reflection,” and then in August appointed a substitute rector. The Legion revealed this week that Father Turrion told authorities in a letter he had decided to leave the ministry after admitting that his infant daughter is in fact the second child he fathered with a woman he fell in love with several years ago when the order was going through a period of turmoil.He kept the first-born child, a son reportedly born eight years ago, and the ongoing relationship with the child’s mother, a closely guarded secret for years, including during the period he was being considered for rector. In a letter released by the Legion, Turrion asked for prayers and "foregiveness for the scandal . . for my bad example." Popular and passionate about football, Father Turrion was one of the few ordained priests invited each year to join the seminarians on the field in the Clericus Cup, an annual football tournament between teams from the Rome seminary colleges.The shock revelation has rattled the institution, which said in a statement it was saddened and "conscious of the impact that the negative example" had set to seminarians and the Christian faithful.The order faced a similar scandal in 2013, when American priest Thomas Williams, a professor of moral theology at the Legion’s university in Rome and a prominent TV commentator, also announced he would leave the priesthood after admitting he had fathered a child. And in 2006 the Vatican sentenced its founder, Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Delgollado to a life of “prayer and penance” after discovering he had sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least three children out of wedlock. Today, the subject of how to manage priests secretly fathering children is gradually becoming less taboo inside the Vatican, thanks in part to the persistent efforts of Vincent Doyle, an Irish Catholic psychotherapist who discovered that his father had been a priest and went on to found the Coping International support group for children of priests, who he said often face emotional, psychological and financial difficulties after years of living with “guilty secrets." Earlier this year Irish Catholic bishops passed new guidelines for “the principles of responsibility regarding priests who father children while in the ministry,” urging the wellbeing of the child to be put first, personally, legally and financially.

October 24, 2017(UK) Councils buying homeless one-way train ticketsBy Anna Collinson Reporter | BBCA number of councils in England are regularly buying one-way train tickets for homeless people out of their area, the Victoria Derbyshire show has found.Some spent more than £1,000 a year on fares and charity Homeless Link called the scale "worrying".The strategy can be used to reconnect rough sleepers with family, but one man said he was offered a ticket to a city he had never been to before.The government said it was investing £550 million to tackle homelessness.'Made me feel sick'There were 4,134 people sleeping on the streets in England in 2016 - a 130% rise in six years, government figures suggest. The charity Crisis says this is a significant underestimate.Twenty councils with the highest number of rough sleepers in England were asked - some by Freedom of Information request - how many homeless people had been offered the "reconnection" policy of a one-way train ticket between 2012 and 2017.Of the 11 that responded, 10 said they had bought such tickets.Manchester City Council - which had 78 rough sleepers in 2016 - said it had spent £9,928 on reconnecting homeless people in six years, but did not keep a record of how many people this involved.In Bournemouth - which had 39 rough sleepers in 2016 - the council said it had arranged 144 reconnections in three-and-a-half years.One rough sleeper, Gareth Glendall-Pickton - who grew up in the seaside town - claimed he was recently offered a ticket to Manchester, where he did not know anyone and had never been to previously."It made me feel sick," he explained. "I've lived here all my life... it's soul-destroying."I think what they want to do is to get the homeless people out of Bournemouth, because all the new people coming to the area are seeing all those homeless people sitting there."[The council] see it as making Bournemouth a bad place." (full story)

US and South Korea Begging for War with North Korea. Preparation for Military Onslaught under Operation “Vigilant Ace” ​US-ROK Military Provocations Deliberately Inciting War with North Korea. UN Security Council Is Complicitous

by Carla Stea | Global ResearchOn November 23, the U.S. and South Korea confirmed that they will be deploying yet another menacing military demonstration against North Korea, with 230 aircraft, including F-22 Raptor stealth fighters and F-35 aircraft, 12,000 U.S. personnel, with the participation of the U.S. marines and navy. This preparation for military onslaught against the DPRK, called “Vigilant Ace,” will begin on December 4, and this “Sword of Damocles,” which the U.S. and South Korea hold over North Korea is a perpetual form of terrorism. Confronted with these constant and deadly military threats and intolerable provocations, the DPRK had no alternative but to increase its defense, and on November 28 tested another ballistic missile.The total denial, or ignorance of historic context displayed by too many UN Security Council members, regarding the DPRK, is endangering world peace. To say, as some have at the Security Council, that the DPRK is not only a regional threat, but a global threat reveals a distorted perception verging on paranoia, and an avoidance of truth. Such reckless and irresponsible hyperbole, in the present explosive context, is itself instigation to a war which threatens the survival of humanity. Crocodile tears hypocritically shed, regarding the situation of human rights in the DPRK are shameful, particularly coming from countries whose historic records on human rights abuses are notorious.In what should be an alarming warning to the Security Council, the New York Times displays the horrific condition of migrants sold as slaves in Libya, and states:“The migrant crisis in Libya originated with the collapse of the government of Col. Muammar el Qaddafi six years ago. …the chaos and lawlessness across Libya has also exposed the migrants to pervasive and well-documented abuses, including forced labor, kidnapping, extortion, rape, torture and indefinite extralegal detention in overcrowded pens and other inhumane conditions.”This monstrous tragedy is a consequence of the UN Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 1973, which authorized the US-NATO destruction of Qaddafi’s government, the regime change of a progressive Arab country in the name of “human rights,” which began as a relentless and ruthlessly effective propaganda tactic that deviously gained the support of the Security Council, culminated in a pulverizing military slaughter in a sovereign UN member state, and spawned the epidemic of terrorism and human slavery now deplored by the NY Times. The UN Security Council has never admitted and never apologized for the fact that its intervention in Libya resulted in a disastrous murder of Libyan citizens and the demolition of their functioning government, the consequence of which is an incubation of widespread ISIS terrorism and African slavery today.Has the UN Security Council learned anything from the devastation it caused in Libya and Iraq? No. It is repeating the same deadly pattern in an attempt to force regime change in North Korea, in particular through the imposition of criminal sanctions, the disastrous humanitarian consequences of which should ultimately subject the entire Council which supported the sanctions to indictment for crimes against humanity. (full article)

January 17, 2018Former CIA Officer Warns: Deep State Is "Terrified" Of Trump, "Want Him Taken Out"

by Tyler Durden | Zerohedge.comFormer “high-level” CIA officer Kevin Shipp says President Trump has “declared war” on the so-called Deep State and the shadow government.

Shipp explains, “I differentiate between the ‘Deep State’ and the shadow government. The shadow government are the secret intelligence agencies that have such power and secrecy that they act even without the knowledge of Congress. There are many things that they do with impunity. Then there is the ‘Deep State,’ which is the military industrial complex, all of the industrial corporations and their lobbyists, and they have all the money, power and greed that give all the money to the Senators and Congressmen.So, they are connected, but they are really two different entities. It is the shadow government . . . specifically, the CIA, that is going after Donald Trump. It is terrified that some of its dealings are going to be exposed. If they are, it could jeopardize the entire organization.”President Trump’s December Executive Order on “Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption” is a major way Trump is turning the tables on the people trying to take him down.Shipp says, “Donald Trump, very wisely, starts out calling it a ‘threat to U.S. national security.’ That one term brings in the U.S. military, the U.S. intelligence agencies, domestic law enforcement and the whole U.S. law enforcement into enforcing these laws. The amazing thing about the Executive Order is now it extends to foreign persons, foreign organizations and even foreign government officials. So, this is a national security threat, which means it includes anyone inside the United States or outside the United States.”The very people that have been attacking Donald Trump are now feeling the Trump counter attack.Shipp says,“They are terrified, they are terrified right now. They did not expect Trump to do what he is doing now. The reason they tried to get him even before he was elected is they knew he was uncontrollable, and they knew if he got in there, they would not be able to manipulate him, and that is exactly what’s happening. There are some people, and there is no doubt about it, that are running scared right now...Donald Trump is questioning the Deep State and the shadow government. He’s rocking that place left and right. The news media is terrified of that. Their editors are telling them to attack him just like they are attacking him from the inside. It’s just dirty pool because they want him taken out.”In closing, Shipp says, “Trump's making tremendous progress despite tremendous resistance. They have already done a character assassination on him, and I think they could go further than that... Trump is making progress, and he has them running scared.”

February 19, 2018

It Looks Like "The Greatest Act Of Bureaucratic Ass-Covering In US History..."

Funny, that was the American mainstream media bragging, after the fact, about our own meddling in another nation’s election.WASHINGTON — A team of American political strategists who helped [California] Gov. Pete Wilson with his abortive presidential bid earlier this year said this week that they served as Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin’s secret campaign weapon in his comeback win over a Communist challenge.—The Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1996The beauty in Robert Mueller’s indictment of thirteen Russian Facebook trolls is that they’ll never face trial, so Mr. Mueller will never have to prove his case. In the new misrule of law made popular by the #Me Too movement, accusations suffice to convict the target of an investigation.Kind of sounds like going medieval to me, but that’s how we roll now in the Land of the Free.Readers know, of course, that I’m not a Trump supporter, that I regard him as a national embarrassment, but I’m much more disturbed by the mindless hysteria ginned up Washington’s permanent bureaucracy in collusion with half a dozen major newspapers and cable news networks, who have run a psy-ops campaign to shove the country into a war mentality.The New York Times published a doozy of a lead story on Saturday, the day after the indictments were announced. The headline said: Trump’s Conspicuous Silence Leaves a Struggle Against Russia Without a Leader. Dean Baquet and his editorial board are apparently seeking an American Napoleon who will mount a white horse and take our legions into Moscow to teach these rascals a lesson — or something like that.I’m surely not the only one to notice how this hysteria is designed to distract the public attention from the documented misconduct among FBI, CIA, NSA, State Department officials and the leaders of the #Resistance itself: the Democratic National Committee, its nominee in the 2016 election, HRC, and Barack Obama’s White House inner circle. You would think that at least some of this mischief would have come to Robert Mueller’s attention, since the paper trail of evidence is as broad and cluttered as the DC Beltway itself. It actually looks like the greatest act of bureaucratic ass-covering in US history.Of course, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was quick to qualify the announced indictments by saying that Russian trolling on Facebook had no effect on the 2016 election, and that the Trump campaign was not implicated in it. Maybe the indictments were just a table-setter for something more potent to come out of Mueller’s office. But what if it’s not. What if this is all he has to show for a year and a half of the most scrupulous delving into this “narrative?”Meanwhile, the damage done among America’s former thinking class essentially leaves this polity like the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz: without a brain. I doubt they will be satisfied by Mueller’s indictment of the thirteen Russian trolls. Rather, it may tempt them to even more violent hysterics and greater acts of lawlessness. The only thing that will stop this nonsense is Big Trouble in the financial system — which the news media and most of the public are ignoring at their peril. It is coming at us good and hard and it will feel like a two-by-four to nation’s skull when it gets here. (original story)

March 11, 2018Former NOAA Scientist Confirms Colleagues Manipulated Climate Recordsby Science.house.govWASHINGTON – [In February last year} U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology members responded to reports about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) 2015 climate change study (“the Karl study”). According to Dr. John Bates, the recently retired principal scientist at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, the Karl study was used “to discredit the notion of a global warming hiatus and rush to time the publication of the paper to influence national and international deliberations on climate policy.”Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas): “I thank Dr. John Bates for courageously stepping forward to tell the truth about NOAA’s senior officials playing fast and loose with the data in order to meet a politically predetermined conclusion. In the summer of 2015, whistleblowers alerted the Committee that the Karl study was rushed to publication before underlying data issues were resolved to help influence public debate about the so-called Clean Power Plan and upcoming Paris climate conference. Since then, the Committee has attempted to obtain information that would shed further light on these allegations, but was obstructed at every turn by the previous administration’s officials. I repeatedly asked, ‘What does NOAA have to hide?’“Now that Dr. Bates has confirmed that there were heated disagreements within NOAA about the quality and transparency of the data before publication, we know why NOAA fought transparency and oversight at every turn. Dr. Bates’ revelations and NOAA’s obstruction certainly lend credence to what I’ve expected all along – that the Karl study used flawed data, was rushed to publication in an effort to support the president’s climate change agenda, and ignored NOAA’s own standards for scientific study. The Committee thanks Dr. Bates, a Department of Commerce Gold Medal winner for creating and implementing a standard to produce and preserve climate data, for exposing the previous administration’s efforts to push their costly climate agenda at the expense of scientific integrity.”Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Darin LaHood (R-Ill.): “I applaud Dr. Bates’s efforts in uncovering the truth of this data manipulation, and I commend Chairman Smith and the Science Committee for conducting rigorous oversight on behalf of the American people. Transparent and faithful execution of the scientific process, especially where taxpayer dollars are involved, is crucial to ensure that our policies are based on sound science and not on politically predetermined outcomes.”Environment Subcommittee Chairman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.): “I commend Dr. Bates for bringing to light the corrupt practices used by his former colleagues and hope this serves as a deterrence to anyone thinking of manipulating science to serve their own political agenda. I applaud Chairman Smith and the Science Committee's efforts to provide the necessary oversight to ensure the American people have the best information possible.”BackgroundIn the summer of 2015, NOAA scientists published the Karl study, which retroactively altered historical climate change data and resulted in the elimination of a well-known climate phenomenon known as the “climate change hiatus.” The hiatus was a period between 1998 and 2013 during which the rate of global temperature growth slowed. This fact has always been a thorn in the side of climate change alarmists, as it became difficult to disprove the slowdown in warming. The Karl study refuted the hiatus and rewrote climate change history to claim that warming had in fact been occurring. The committee heard from scientists who raised concerns about the study’s methodologies, readiness, and politicization. In response, the committee conducted oversight and sent NOAA inquiries to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Karl study. Over the course of the committee’s oversight, NOAA refused to comply with the inquiries, baselessly arguing that Congress is not authorized to request communications from federal scientists. This culminated in the issuance of a congressional subpoena, with which NOAA also failed to comply. During the course of the investigation, the committee heard from whistleblowers who confirmed that, among other flaws in the study, it was rushed for publication to support President Obama’s climate change agenda.For a complete timeline of the Science Committee’s oversight of NOAA’s 2015 climate change study, click here. 115th Congress

BARCELONA/BERLIN (Reuters) - Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was detained in Germany on Sunday, five months after entering self-imposed exile from Spain, where he faces up to 25 years in prison for organising an illegal secession referendum last year.

Puigdemont had entered Germany from Denmark after leaving Finland on Friday when it appeared that police would arrest him there and begin an extradition process requested by Spain.The detention threatens to worsen the Catalan crisis that flared last year when the region made a symbolic declaration of independence, prompting Madrid to take direct rule.

Spain’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that 25 Catalan leaders would be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobeying the state and reactivated international arrest warrants for Puigdemont and four other politicians who went into self-imposed exile last year.

Among those subject to the arrest order, Clara Ponsati, a former Catalan minister now living in Scotland, told authorities she would turn herself in, Scottish police said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

The other three Catalan leaders are in Belgium.Pro-independence groups called for protests on Sunday outside the offices of the delegation of the European Commission and the German consulate.German police arrested Puigdemont on Sunday in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein on a European arrest warrant issued by Spain. In a statement, police said Puigdemont was detained near a section of the A7 highway, which cuts through the state from the city of Flensburg near the Danish border. Puigdemont was later transferred to Neumuenster prison, German news agency DPA reported.

German magazine Focus said that Spanish intelligence informed the BKA federal police that Puigdemont was on his way from Finland to Germany. It gave no source for its report.

He had arrived in Finland on Thursday to meet lawmakers and attend a conference as part of a campaign to raise the profile of the Catalan independence movement in Europe.

EXTRADITION ISSUEThe Higher Regional Court in Schleswig-Holstein will be responsible for deciding whether to grant Spain’s extradition request.The European arrest warrant system in place since 2004 makes it easier for EU countries to demand extradition from other EU states, having removed political decision-making from the process. EU nations issue thousands of such warrants each year.

Puigdemont will appear in court tomorrow to have his remand extended, German prosecutors said in a statement. Paul Bekaert, who represents Puigdemont in Belgium, where he had been subject to an arrest warrant in December, said his client rang him after being detained in Germany and had appeared calm during the conversation.

Bekaert told Reuters TV that his client would have to appear before a German judge within 48 hours to determine whether or not to keep him in custody. Puigdemont will take German legal representation, Bekaert said, with the whole legal process, including possible appeals, likely to take months. Puigdemont could take his case to Germany’s highest court, which in 2005 blocked the extradition to Spain on an EU arrest warrant of a German-Syrian al-Qaeda suspect.

The case of Mamoun Darkazanli sparked a judicial row between the two countries after Germany’s Federal Constitutional court refused to turn over Darkazanli, saying that EU extradition laws designed to speed up the delivery of suspects between member states violated the rights of German citizens.Puigdemont has previously made clear his preference to fight the extradition process from Belgium, where the former Catalan leader was heading at the time of his detention, according to Puigdemont’s spokesman, Joan Maria Pique.“The president was going to Belgium to put himself, as always, at the disposal of Belgian justice,” Pique told Reuters.

The Spanish Supreme Court had issued an international arrest warrant against Puigdemont last year but withdrew it in December to avoid the risk of Belgian authorities granting him asylum. Leaving Belgium had exposed him again to the risk of arrest. Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena also sent five separatist leaders to pre-trial jail, sparking protests across Catalonia.

[Coleen Rowley is a retired FBI special agent, division legal counsel and law enforcement ethics instructor who testified in connection with the 9-11 Joint Intelligence Committee’s Inquiry, the Senate Judiciary Committee investigation and Department of Justice Inspector General’s investigation, exposing some of the FBI’s pre-9/11 failures, was named one of TIME magazine’s “Persons of the Year” in 2002.]Andrew McCabe’s claim that his firing amounts to a “war on the FBI” doesn’t make sense considering it was the FBI’s own internal affairs office that recommended he be fired, as FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley explains.

The explanation from Andrew McCabe that he was fired merely due to his staunch support of his former boss and mentor, FBI Director James Comey, and the “Russiagate” investigation, does not pass the smell test.Similar to the one that mainstream corporate media is spinning, McCabe’s explanation almost totally ignores the fact that it was the relatively independent Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) and the FBI’s own Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR internal affairs) who recommended firing McCabe for his “lack of candor” on (the totally unrelated issue of) granting improper press access to the Wall Street Journal during ongoing FBI investigations of the Clinton Foundation and Clinton’s emails.While the exact specifics of McCabe’s “lack of candor” – which McCabe denies – haven’t been released by the IG, it’s my own personal opinion that such official briefing of the press should not necessarily be a fireable offense as long as it’s justified to correct faulty media reporting and was not covertly done for improper political reasons. But technically, firing for “lack of candor” has long been the FBI’s “bright line” policy, ever since former FBI Director Louis Freeh tried to “clean up” the FBI in the mid-1990s when so many agents, including Special Agents in Charge, were caught lying about sex affairs, improper government credit card charges and drunk driving incidents – some amounting to reckless homicides.But of course Freeh was rather hypocritical as he was himself involved in several instances of “lack of candor” including appointing his friend, Larry Potts, as Deputy Director. This, despite the fact that Potts had covered up his own role in substituting “rules of engagement”for the FBI’s “deadly force policy” during the Ruby Ridge standoff with (the arguably unconstitutional) “rules” directing the shooting on sight of any armed male.The cover-up of Potts’ mishandling of Ruby Ridge came to light during the criminal investigations and prosecution of the FBI sniper who had subsequently shot and killed Randy Weaver’s wife while aiming at someone else. When Pott’s role was revealed, Freeh had to censure and demote his Deputy Director; but even then Potts wasn’t actually fired.So it may well be that “lack of candor” sets too high a standard that no one, not even the angels, let alone FBI agents and their managing officials can live up to. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ lofty statement that the FBI’s integrity is its brand, may be nice, wishful thinking but like other self-promoting speeches going back to J. Edgar Hoover, it has never rung true based on the hundreds of unethical actions I witnessed or was made aware of.A number of OPR officials themselves were always getting caught in various unethical, deceitful (and sometimes even illegal) actions, including their long systemic practice of employing “double standards” in recommending disciplinary actions, i.e. top ranking officials received light discipline while lower ranking agents got far more severe punishments for similar wrongdoing. In 2001, some of the FBI’s internal affairs supervisors became whistleblowers and testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the FBI’s disciplinary “double standards.” Although some remedies were eventually put into place, the IG also had to investigate some retaliatory fall-out.In any event, McCabe’s calling his firing a “war on the FBI” doesn’t make sense considering it was the FBI’s own internal affairs office that recommended he be fired. (Note that DOJ IG Michael Horowitz was appointed by President Obama in 2012 and the FBI’s OPR is run by a career official originally appointed to that position in 2004 by then FBI Director Robert Mueller.)Perhaps it would be more apt if McCabe had called it a war inside the FBI (and in Washington as a whole). Could the obvious chaos – some would say “bloodbath” – at all levels of government also be part of the “blowback” from 16 years of waging “perpetual war” (and from attendant war crimes and the internal corruption by which all empires rot)? As author Viet Thanh Nguyen noted about the 2016 election: “That sickness is imperialism… America is an imperial country, and its decay might now be showing. Empires rot from the inside even as emperors blame the barbarians.” Remember how wars have a way of migrating home.Don’t forget that McCabe’s mentor, James Comey, as Assistant Attorney General had signed off on the Bush-Cheney Administration’s torture tactics. Special Counsel Robert Mueller (said to be “joined at the hip” with Comey) dutifully looked the other way, as then FBI Director, when the CIA’s torture program was instituted, allowing the atrocities to continue. It should also be recalled that Mueller helped the Bush-Cheney Administration to lie us into the Iraq War.In early January, 2017 CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey, NSA Director Michael Rogers and National Director of Intelligence James Clapper briefed President Obama and President-elect Trump on their “Intelligence Community Assessment” by which their agencies’ “hand-picked analysts” accused Russia of meddling in the election and which also included former MI6 spy Chris Steele’s “salacious dossier” accusing Trump’s campaign of colluding with the Russians.By prior plan, the three other intelligence directors left Comey alone in the room with Trump for Comey to confront the President-elect with the damning summary of Steele’s dossier (which Comey admitted was not verified) and, as icing on the cake, also warning Trump that these accusations would probably appear soon in the media.Forgetful Democrat Party loyalists also should be reminded that John Brennan was termed the drone assassination and “kill list” czar (before being named CIA Director). As CIA Director, Brennan was hellbent on covering up and promoting CIA torture.James Clapper, also not known for candor in having previously misled Congress about the NSA’s massive spying on Americans, has even been reported to be the source of the leak to CNN about the Obama intelligence directors’ January briefing that focused on the Steele dossier. It sure looks like there is plenty “lack of candor” to go around! And plenty for these officials to continue covering up. But as Cicero observed hundreds of years ago, “the law falls silent in time of war.” At very least everyone should be wary of partisan media spin since all of these war crimes and other deceitful, illegal actions made possible by the wars are fully bipartisan.The real problem that most of the mainstream media don’t want to even mention is how unprecedented it was to have both Presidential campaigns under serious criminal investigation in the weeks before the 2016 election! In all fairness, even if these now-fired FBI Directors were trying to do the right thing – which would not be in line with their rather sordid track records – it wouldn’t really be possible to walk that political mine field without a faux pas one way or the other. Seen in that light, it’s possible to even sympathize a little with any FBI Director when the public corruption at the highest levels in Washington DC has become so bad (and fully bipartisan), that it’s hard to know where to start.